Tennis: Alex de Minaur advance to Atlanta Open semi-finals after Bernard Tomic retires

Alex de Minaur advanced to his second semi-final of the year after Bernard Tomic retired because of an injury in their all-Aussie matchup at the ATP Atlanta Open on Friday.

De Minaur, who won the Sydney International title in January, was leading 6-2 and 3-0 when Tomic called it quits.

“It’s not ideal obviously for him, but I’ll take this any day of the week. I got here to play some good tennis, and ended up with the win,” said de Minaur of Sydney. “I hope Bernard gets better and recovers, and hopefully he’s all good for the next tournament.”

Tomic bowed out of the quarter-final contest because of a hand injury after having his serve broken three times.

The third-seeded de Minaur will next face American Reilly Opelka, who beat Daniel Evans of Great Britain 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 to reach the semi-finals in Atlanta for the second time.

The 20-year-old de Minaur was dominant on serve, winning all but one of his first-serve points. He did not face a break point against the 26-year-old Tomic.

Elsewhere, Brit Cameron Norrie prevailed 7-5, 6-4 over Australia’s Alexei Popyrin.

Norrie will face second-seeded Taylor Fritz who beat Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 7-6 (7/1).

“I’m pumped to get through that. It wasn’t easy because he’s young, up-and-coming and talented,” said Norrie. “It’s another semi-final now, so I’m just going to look to keep my level and keep pushing for more.”