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In easily the biggest upset of the tournament so far, the defending champion and world no.17 Stanislas Wawrinka went down in straight sets to Japanese qualifier Go Soeda 6-4, 6-4. However, the other three seeds progressed into the semifinals without a hitch. First to reach the semis was the big serving Canadian Milos Raonic. He overcame Dudi Sela of Israel 76(4) 63. The top two seeds, Janko Tipsarevic and Nicolas Almagro, were stretched to three sets, but prevailed over their less fancy opponents.

In the opening match of the day on Center Court, the No.4 seed Milos Raonic got off to a sluggish start against the Israeli Dudi Sela. The Canadian relied heavily on his serve to ward off the challenge from Sela. The first set was decided in the tie break as both players held on to their service games, the Canadian with his monstrous serves and the Israeli with his powerful ground strokes. In the decisive tiebreak in the first set, Raonic raced away to a 6-1 lead before throwing away a bunch of set points. The complacent Canadian did make amends and finally closed out the set 7-4.

In the second set, Raonic was off to comfortable start as he broke Sela in the sixth game to lead 3-2. Clocking serves over 200 kmph at will, the Canadian took a 5-2 lead over the Israeli. Though unforced errors kept creeping into the Canadian’s game, he compensated them with big serves, the last of them being an ace at 217 kmph to win the match 7-6, 6-3.

Later Raonic said, “I’m happy with the result but there are a lot of issues to address. I was struggling a bit in choosing the shots. But the important thing is that I won the match.” The Canadian will be up against the No.2 seed Nicolas Almagro in the semifinals.

Meanwhile on Court 1, defending Champion Stanislas Wawrinka was knocked out of the tournament by the young qualifier from Japan. In a match dominated by unforced errors with a majority coming off Wawrinka’s racquet, Soeda prevailed. The match witnessed a total of 15 breakpoint opportunities with most of them coming in the second set. Both players struggled to hold their serve but the Japanese managed to stay one break ahead of the Swiss in both the sets.

Speaking to the media later, Soeda said, “I’m very happy to be in the semifinal for the first time. My strategy for the match was to play aggressive and I stuck to it”. He also conceded that he was very tired having played the tournament from the qualifying stage but was ready for the next match. He will face the World No.9 Janko Tipsarevic in the semifinals.

Wawrinka, though a bit disappointed gave full credit to the Japanese and conceded that Soeda was the better player on the day and that he deserved to win. He also said, “It’s just the beginning of the year. I’m looking to play more matches and to finding my rhythm.” The Swiss will now play an exhibition match at Adelaide as he gears up for the Australian Open.

The most exciting match of the day was, however, the one between the No.2 seed Nicolas Almagro and the qualifier Yuichi Sugita. Sugita was not to be intimated by his higher ranked opponent and as if to prove the same, he started the match on an aggressive note breaking the Spaniard in the opening as well as the seventh game of the first set. While Almagro did do some damage by breaking the Japanese’s serve in the eighth game, it didn’t stop Sugita from running away with first set 6-4. In the second set, while Almagro did fight back, his lack of match practice prior to the quarterfinals was evident. Sugita, on his part played magnificent ground strokes and stayed longer in the rallies forcing the errors from Almagro’s racquet. The second set headed into a tie-break and Sugita looked in control for the better part of it. Sugita had three match points but couldn’t convert any. Ultimately the Spaniard won the tie break 10-8.

Going into the decider, Almagro stepped up his game and raced away to a 5-1 lead, breaking the Japanese twice. The match was, however, far from over as Sugita clawed his back into the match at 4-5. Both players entertained the crowd with splendid shot-making before the Spaniard finally closed out the decider 6-4.

The final match at Center Court also had its share of excitement as the top seed and the World No.9 Janko Tipsarevic lost the second set to the wildcard entrant from Belgium David Goffin. It was a commendable performance by the youngster as he matched the top seed shot for shot and pushed him all the way to the decider. In what was widely expected to be a one-sided match, it was Goffin’s ability to find the sidelines with unfailing regularity that helped the Belgian stay in the match. However, the top seed was never under serious threat and he closed out the match 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Day 6 at the Chennai Open will feature the Men’s Singles and Doubles semifinals.

Scores: Men's Singles Quarter-finals

(1) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) d (WC) David Goffin (BEL) 62 36 62
(2) Nicolas Almagro (ESP) d (Q) Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 46 76(8) 64
Go Soeda (JPN) d (3) Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 64 64
(4) Milos Raonic (CAN) d Dudi Sela (ISR) 76(4) 63

File Photograph Copyright: Madrid Masters