And so we are down to the last four singles contenders with a place in the final of the Adelaide International the reward for winning just one match on Friday.
Third seed Sebastian Korda, who was flawless in his dismissal of Australia’s Chris O’Connell on Thursday, faces Czech Jiri Lehecka in the first singles semifinal (and second match of the day) on Centre Court.
Korda, who held a Championship point against Novak Djokovic in last year’s Adelaide International final, will hope his marginally higher ranking – world No. 29, compared to No.32 Lehecka – is telling.
The players have never met on court and both men will be looking to add an ATP tour title to their CV (Korda has one, in Italy on clay in 2021) while Lehecka is looking for his debut trophy.
Korda took five match points to overcome O’Connell – a sign of nerves, suggested the Australian – but it points to his desire to become a serial title winner. At 196cm tall he has the capacity to gain ‘free’ points on his serve but his all-round play, and ground speed, is the better part of his game.
Just 23-years-old to Lehecka’s 22, these men are in the vanguard of the future of men’s tennis.
Lehecka, the less high profile of the two, dismissed No.2 seed Nicolas Jarry in straight sets in the quarter-finals and is not to be underestimated.
Intriguingly both parents of both men have achieved within professional sport. Petr Korda, as is well known, won the1998 Australian Open singles title and his mother made it to No.26 in the WTA rankings.
Lehecka’s father (also Jiri) was a professional swimmer with his mother, Romana, a professional track-and-field athlete.
Family achievement extends to the other men’s semifinal too. Jack Draper – who put out top seed Tommy Paul on Thursday – has a father, Roger, who began life as a rugby league player in England who rose to be chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association and Sport England.
> VIEW: Adelaide International day order of play
The big hitting, rangy Alexander Bublik who represents Kazakhstan, overcame arguably the form player of this tournament Lorenzo Musetti, late on Thursday afternoon and is Draper’s semifinal opponent in a 6.30pm Friday start on Centre Court.
In the women’s semifinals, No.2 seed Jessica Pegula faces Daria Kasatkina, a former Roland Garros junior champion who has six WTA titles to her name.
In the other semifinal, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who pulled out of her doubles match on Thursday with a left leg injury, faces Ekaterina Alexandrova who pulled off a huge upset to hand top-seed Elena Rybakina her first defeat in seven matches in 2024.