Novak reaches the next semi-final

After an impressive performance, Dennis Novak unfortunately missed out on the greatest victory of his career at the LAYJET OPEN Championship in Bad Waltersdorf in the final after a clear lead of 6:1 and 4:0. But the 30-year-old has clearly taken his strong form with him into the next tournament. Günter Bresnick’s protégé reached another semi-final in the Alicante Ferrero Challenger – without losing a set. The Lower Austrian (ATP 196) beat second-seeded Slovakian Alex Molkan (ATP 113), a left-handed Portuguese, 6:1, 6:3 in the ATP 100 hard court event in Spain at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Tennis Academy facility. Frederico Ferreira Silva (ATP 226) with 7:5, 7:6 (7) and Swede Elias Ymer (ATP 172) with 6:4, 6:2. He will now play on Saturday at 11:00 am against Frenchman Hugo Grenier (ATP 213), who defeated in the first round 6:4, 6:3 Maximilian Newcrest (ATP 238), for a place in the final.

Novak also owes his three victories in Alicante to good performances on his serves. Although he still has room for improvement in terms of first serve ratio and double faults (ten in total), his 27 aces and just two breaks speak for themselves. He scored 81, 78 and 75 percent of the points on the first serve in his three matches. He already has 36 ATP points, thus once again gaining significant ground in the direct world rankings and currently standing at 170th, one point and one place ahead of compatriot Filip Misulic. Success over Grenier will bring Novak another 24 points and rise to 157th place, and winning the tournament will bring a total of 100 points and rise to 141st place.