Dan Evans to play Carlos Alcaraz in Barcelona Open semi-finals on Saturday; world No 1 Novak Djokovic eliminated in quarter-final of Srpska Open by fellow Serb Dusan Lajovic; Djokovic said earlier this week his elbow was "not in ideal shape"
Friday 21 April 2023 23:32, UK
Dan Evans is into the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open after coming from a set down to beat Francisco Cerundolo.
British No 2 Evans rallied from losing the first set 6-2 to win the second 7-5 before claiming the decider 6-3 to book a last-four meeting with No 1 seed and world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz in Spain.
Novak Djokovic, though, suffered a shock quarter-final exit at the Srpska Open in Bosnia and Herzegovina, losing 6-4 7-6 (8-6) to fellow Serb Dusan Lajovic with the world No 1 converting just one of the 16 break points he manufactured.
The 35-year-old needed to come from a set down to beat French teenager Luca Van Assche in the previous round but could not do likewise against world No 70 Lajovic.
Djokovic's disappointment came a week after he was eliminated in the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters by Lorenzo Musetti.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion told reporters before the Srpska Open his elbow "was not in ideal shape".
Lajovic said of his victory: "I am overwhelmed, it is the biggest win of my career.
"The emotions are very mixed because I'm playing here in front of the home town and I'm also playing against a good friend and he's a hero of our country.
"Beating him, it's something that I didn't even think was going to be possible, but it happened.
"His percentage of the first serve was not the greatest, so I was able to use that to my advantage. Overall, I think it was very good tennis from my side."
Earlier on Friday, second seed Andrey Rublev beat Damir Dzumhur 7-5 6-3 to reach the semi-finals, with the Russian now the strong favourite to win the title following Djokovic's exit.
