NEWPORT — Fourth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus beat seventh-seeded Dudi Sela of Israel 6-2, 7-5 Thursday to advance to the semifinals in the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
Third-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg and sixth-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France reached the quarterfinals. Muller topped Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 7-6 (7), 6-4, and Mannarino rallied to edge Australia’s Sam Groth 7-6 (6), 6-3.
The 31-year-old Baghdatis kissed the court when the match ended after giving a long embrace at the net to longtime friend Sela. The Cypriot is seeking his fifth career ATP title.
“We know each other from a very young age,” Baghdatis said. “A lot of emotions.”
Play was delayed for nearly three hours by rain after Mannarino won the first set.
Second-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, a finalist in Newport the last two year, had his quarterfinal match against Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli postponed until Friday.
Ferrer fights back
Top-seeded David Ferrer came back from a set and 2-0 down in beating French qualifier Calvin Hemery 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of the Swedish Open Thursday.
The two-time former champion had a first-round bye, and was having a first meeting with Hemery, who earned his first match win on the tour on Tuesday.
Ferrer next plays Dustin Brown of Germany, who knocked out sixth-seeded Aljaz Bedene of Britain 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3. The Spaniard said he watched that game.
Second-seeded Joao Sousa, the 2014 runner-up, lost only 12 of his service points in a 6-3, 6-1 win over wild card Carl Soderlund of Sweden. He will next face Portuguese compatriot Gastao Elias, who beat Japan’s Taro Daniel 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-2.
Masarova stuns Jankovic
Sixteen-year-old Rebeka Masarova marked her WTA Tour debut with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 defeat of former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in the rain-delayed first round of the Gstaad tournament Thursday.
The French Open junior champion is playing on a wild card at her home event and next faces Anett Kontaveit of Croatia.
Former top 10 regular Patty Schnyder, 37, saw her wild card appearance halted at the first hurdle as she continues her unlikely comeback.
Schnyder lost to the Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Halep in quarterfinals
Top-seeded Simona Halep made her way back to the Bucharest Open quarterfinals, surviving a late wobble to advance past Bulgarian qualifier Isabella Shinikova 6-4, 6-3 Thursday.
Halep, making her first appearance in her home event since she won the inaugural tournament two years ago, broke Shinikova early and held on to take the first set. In the second, she clinched on her second match point.
Up next will be sixth-seeded Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, who dispatched Polina Leykina of Russia 6-3, 6-2.
Second-seeded Sara Errani, last year’s runner-up, advanced when her opponent, fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone, retired with a right shoulder injury after both split the first two sets.
Errani will face seventh-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, who defeated local Patricia Maria Tig 6-2, 6-2.
