Beijing, Oct. 18 -- Australian qualifier James Duckworth extended his impressive run at the Almaty Open on Friday, defeating third seed Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-2 to reach his first ATP semifinal in nearly three years.
The 33-year-old, ranked outside the world's top 100, has been the revelation of the week in Kazakhstan, carving through a draw stacked with higher-ranked opponents. Two days after ousting seventh seed Gabriel Diallo in a gruelling three-set encounter, he backed it up with a near-flawless performance against Cobolli.
Cobolli, who had dropped just seven games in his first two matches, looked increasingly unsettled as Duckworth held serve with ease and repeatedly found winners off short balls.
The Australian broke twice in the f...