Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Frenchman Alexandre Müller in the Chengdu Open quarterfinal 6-1 7-5 to reach the semifinal. The Spaniard is seeded second at the tournament and sits 28th in the rankings with 1780 points (according to rank.tennis). The ATP 250 category event is played on hard courts, with a prize fund of $1.3 million.
Davidovich Fokina took the first set in dominant fashion, 6-1. The second set was considerably tighter, with Müller staying in contention until the end, but the Spaniard closed it out 7-5 to seal the match without dropping a set.
Road to the semifinal
In the round of 16, Davidovich Fokina defeated Juan Manuel Cerúndolo 6-4 5-4. Müller, playing unseeded, won two matches on his way to facing the Spaniard: in the round of 32 he beat Moïse Kouamé 6-4 5-0, and in the round of 16 he defeated Federico China 7-6(3) 6-1.
Among the Spaniard's recent results, as reported by api.tennis, was a five-set loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, 7-6 6-7 3-6 7-6 1-6, and a loss to Alex Molčan in the quarterfinal at Umag, 6-3 1-6 2-6. Müller's recent matches include a loss to Rei Sakamoto in the second round of US Open qualifying and a loss to Felix Balshaw in the round of 16 at the Rafa Nadal Open, 5-7 2-6.