Escobar/Reboul Reach Estoril SFs

The dominant run of third seeds Gonzalo Escobar and Fabien Reboul continued on Thursday at the Millennium Estoril Open. The Ecuadorian/French pair defeated Joao Sousa and Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals with the loss of just eight games in two matches.

In their opening match on Wednesday, Escobar/Reboul cruised past Marco Cecchinato and Quentin Halys 6-0, 6-3. After a day off, they will seek to continue their run on Saturday against Serbians Nikola Cacic and Miomir Kecmanovic. Cacic/Kecmanovic also advanced on Thursday with a 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-4 win against Diego Hidalgo and Cristian Rodriguez, while fourth seeds Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen progressed to the semis via walkover.

The fourth doubles quarter-final spot will be claimed on Friday, when home favourites Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral meet Robin Haase and Philipp Oswald.

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Match Tie-Breaks In Marrakech
Two of the three Thursday doubles matches at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech were decided by Match Tie-breaks. Third-seeded Austrians Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler survived a scare against Czechs Roman Jebavy and Adam Pavlasek, coming from behind to advance 4-6, 6-1, 13-11.

Erler/Miedler will face fifth seeds Maxime Cressy and Albano Olivetti in the semis after the American-French team beat home-favourite Moroccans Elliot Benchetrit and Adam Moundir 6-4, 6-3.

Indians N.Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan edged Dutchmen Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6(3), 4-6, 10-8. Their semi-final opponents will be determined on Friday, when Marcelo Demoliner and Andrea Vavassori meet Sander Arends and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.