American Ben Shelton, top seed, was eliminated this Friday from the semifinals of the ATP Auckland Classic after losing to Taro Danielwho reached the second final of his career six years after the first. The Japanese won 7-5 and 7-6 (9).
The No. 16-ranked Shelton seemed unstoppable as all but one seed was eliminated after the quarterfinals.
Britain’s Cameron Norrie, the second seed, withdrew before the quarterfinals with a wrist injury. The last seed lost in the second semi-final on Friday, when the French Arthur Fils, sixth seed, was defeated by Chilean Alejandro Tabilo (6-2, 7-5).
Tabilo, ranked 84th in the rankings, made it through two qualifying rounds and three main draw matches to reach the second final of his career. He was set to face Norrie in the quarter-finals, but went straight to the semi-finals when Norrie withdrew.
Daniel also played higher than his ranking of 74 on Friday to defeat Shelton in straight sets. Shelton saved two match points and Daniel two set points, and Daniel finally converted his third match point, ending the match after two hours and five minutes.
Tabilo swept his first set against the Fils with two breaks of serve. He then came back from 5-2 down in the second set to tie it at 5-5 and serve for the match at 6-5. The final game lasted 17 minutes and Fils saved three match points before Tabilo secured the win.
Source: La Verdad
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