Under the humid heat of the track at the Ariake complex, Pablo Carreño pulled out his endurance capacity. The Spaniard was facing Dominik Koepfer, that fighting German who wore Federer down during a Parisian night. The Asturian also had to face the 30 degrees, which were crushing. He passed both obstacles successfully. 7-6 (9) and 6-3. Straight to the Tokyo Games rooms.
Carreño hit Koepfer first with a break in the first set, 2-2 to 4-2 passed. But that's what Koepfer is, fighter. And he regained the disadvantage almost automatically. The tie-break broke through. And it was also a tough tiebreaker. Carreño took it 9-7. A new factor came into play: heat. The man from Gijón would put ice packs on his face, anywhere. Everything to alleviate the suffocation.
The second arrived set and it is seen that there by Furtwagen, the land of Koepfer, it is not very hot either. Because the German stopped fighting from 3-3. Carreño advanced to 6-3. But it ended somewhat melted by the extreme weather in Tokyo: “If I tell the truth, I am devastated, it is difficult for me to think. Conditions are very tough and we knew it. It cost a lot, it is difficult to counteract this, but in the end I was able to get it out and I am already in the top eight ”.
Carreño will face an ‘ogre’ like Daniil Medvedev, who knocked out Fognini (6-2, 3-6 and 6-2) in the quarterfinals: “We will fight to the end. He will be the favorite, but it is clear that there may be surprises. I will analyze it with my coach and we will see ”.
The mixed double, canceled by the heat stroke of Badosa
This afternoon, Carreño should play the mixed double with Paula Badosa, but the Catalan suffered a fainting spell in her match and finally they will not play. They have already been officially replaced by the French couple Ferro and Herbert.
After Carreño's regret for the excess of temperature in Ariake, a few minutes later, Paula Badosa fainted. She suffered a heat stroke and had to withdraw from the match with Vondrousova, when she was trailing 3-6.