MADRID — Jan-Lennard Struff thought he was done at the Madrid Open when he lost to Aslan Karatsev in the final round of qualifying last week.
On Friday, though, the lucky loser will be facing Karatsev again with a spot in the final on the line.
The big-serving Struff upset fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3 on Thursday to become the third lucky loser to reach the semifinals of a Masters 1000 tournament.
The 33-year-old German player had lost 6-4, 6-2 to Karatsev in qualifying but made it to the main draw after another player dropped out.
Struff had lost only five service games in the main draw and relinquished only one against Tsitsipas on his way to victory in the Spanish capital.
“It feels amazing. It was a very, very hard battle. I knew before I needed to perform at my best,” Struff said. “Very, very happy that I played this well today.”
The fifth-ranked Tsitsipas was coming off a final appearance at the Barcelona Open, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz. He was a runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Madrid in 2019.
Defending champion Alcaraz faces 17th-seeded Borna Coric in the other semifinal.
Karatsev reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal after ending a strong run by Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen 7-6 (3), 6-4.
The 121st-ranked Russian saved all three breaks points he faced in the first set and converted his only opportunity in the second.
“Aslan is playing amazing this week so far and he beat me pretty easily in qualies, I need to say,” Struff said. “I didn’t play the best tennis in that match, but he made me play not good, I feel like. I think we need to analyze it now, focus on the match tomorrow and I hope I can do better.”
Karatsev has been ranked as high as 14th. In 2021 at the Australian Open, he became the first man in the professional era to reach the semifinals in his Grand Slam debut.
He became only the second qualifier to make the semifinals in Madrid.
“I started the year inside the top 100 then I dropped and lost some matches,” he said. “You have to keep going and believe, and I have a team behind me that is always supporting me and believing in me.”
Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the women’s final for the second time in three years by defeating Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-1.
The 2021 champion in the Spanish capital will face either top-ranked Iga Swiatek or 12th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova, who will play later Thursday.
The second-seeded Sabalenka opened with a 3-0 lead before Sakkari pulled even. The 24-year-old player from Belarus then won nine of the last 11 games, including the last five, to comfortably close out the match.
“It was actually my best match of the tournament,” Sabalenka said. “I’m super happy with the level that I played, and especially with my mental game.”
The Australian Open champion is seeking her fifth WTA 1000 title and 13th career title overall.