Yuki-Olivetti duo races into Semifinals of ATP 250 Grand Prix Hassan II

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Yuki Bhambri and Albano Olivetti

The Grand Prix Hassan II, an ATP 250 event held in Marrakech, Morocco, witnessed a thrilling quarterfinal match that saw the Indo-French pair of Yuki Bhambri and Albano Olivetti (Yuki-Olivetti) progress to the semifinals. The duo achieved this feat by upsetting the third-seeded pairing of Rafael Matos and Nicolas Barrientos in a hard-fought three-setter.

A hard-fought win for Yuki-Olivetti

The match started with top-class serving games from both sides, leading to a tie-breaker in the first set. The tie-breaker was closely contested, with the score poised at 4-4. However, Yuki-Olivetti managed to win two mini-breaks, clinching the set.

The second set saw the first break of the match in the seventh game when Matos-Nicolas went down 15-40. The Indo-French pair capitalized on this opportunity, gaining a significant advantage of 5-3 and earning four match points in the ninth game. However, they missed this opportunity, dropped the game, and later lost the set on the tiebreaker, 1-7.

The match then went into a super tie-breaker. It was going smoothly until the third-seeded pair made a mistake, giving a mini-break at 4-6. This error cost them the super tie-breaker and the match, which ended 7-10 in favour of Yuki-Olivetti.

This victory was a significant achievement for Yuki Bhambri and Albano Olivetti, who had managed to upset the higher-ranked Brazilian-Colombian pair. Their performance in the match, particularly their ability to bounce back after losing the second set, demonstrated their fighting spirit.

In the semifinals, Yuki and Albano will face the second-seeded Austrian pair of Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler. Erler and Miedler had a comfortable 7-6 (4), 6-4 win in their quarterfinal match. The upcoming match promises to be an exciting contest, given the form and momentum that both pairs have shown in the tournament so far.

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