Edmund and Seppi Advance in New York Open Semifinal Action

(February 15, 2020) UNIONDALE, NEW YORK– After a week of upsets and tightly fought three setters, the New York Open’s two singles semifinals ON Saturday were relatively tepid, straight set affairs.

In the afternoon match, England’s Kyle Edmund beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 6-4. It was a slight upset since Edmund is the eighth seed, while the Serbian player was seeded sixth. Despite starting the match with a double fault, Edmund managed to take control of the encounter from early in the first set.

Kecmanovic, who was able to withstand the aggressive play of the fourth-seeded Ugo Humbert in the previous round, seemed to have no answer to Edmund’s bruising groundstrokes. When the Serbian got control of a point and closed in on the net to finish the rally, his volleys often failed him.
With Edmunds banging winners on his dominant forehead and his backhand holding up well to the pressure his opponent tried to put on it, the Brit was on cruise control for most of the match.

Kecmanovic’s lack of effort in the last game of the match undermined his strong showing throughout the week and left a bad taste in the mouths of New York Open fans.

In the evening match, qualifier and fan favorite Jason Jung, who beat the 2018 New York Open champ Kevin Anderson and last year’s winner Reilly Opelka in his run to the semis finally ran out of gas, losing to an in-form Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-2. The Italian veteran’s smooth rallying and willingness to move Jung around the court took their toll on the former University of Michigan star.

Jung made some dents in Seppi’s game such as getting one service break back when his was down two breaks in the second set, but Seppi managed Jung’s runs and was never threatened in the match.