The final Thursday before Roland-Garros delivered surprises in Geneva and confirmed Emma Navarro's rising form in Strasbourg.
In Geneva, Mariano Navone produced the performance of the day by defeating sixth seed Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals. The Argentine, a formidable clay-court competitor, broke the Norwegian three times in the second set to wrap up the match in just over an hour. Ruud, who was targeting a confidence-building title before Paris, leaves Switzerland with questions about his form.
In the other semifinal, Alexander Bublik dispatched Learner Tien 6-4, 6-3. The Kazakh, whose unorthodox game thrives on all surfaces, will face Navone in Saturday's final. A promising clash of styles between the Argentine's clay-court power and the Kazakh's creativity.
In Strasbourg, Emma Navarro continued her perfect week by dismissing Ann Li 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals. The world No. 4 is displaying strong confidence heading into Roland-Garros. She will face the winner of the Victoria Mboko vs Jaqueline Cristian semifinal in the final.
On the Roland-Garros qualifying front, Linda Fruhvirtova, Claire Liu, and Lulu Sun Quevedo punched their tickets to the main draw, joining Sloane Stephens who qualified the day before. The main draw opens Sunday with 128 players ready to battle on the Parisian clay.
