American Mitchell Krueger spent several more hours at the USTA National Campus on Friday than he could have planned for, but in the end it paid off, as he has advanced to the singles semifinals along with the doubles final of the 2020 Orlando Open presented by Nemours, an ATP Challenger 80 event.

Krueger’s day started with his quarterfinal contest versus qualifier Alexander Ritschard. A tough opening frame went to Kruger by a slim 6-4 margin, but Ritschard quickly turned the tables in the second. A decisive third seemed inevitable; however, Kruger made a push to get things back on serve and eventually force the set into a tiebreak. The qualifier responded just points from defeat, claiming the tiebreak seven points to five.

Momentum did not stay with Ritschard for long after Krueger raced out to a 3-0 advantage. The lead would be trimmed to 3-1, but from there it was all Krueger, who won the final three games of the match for the 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 triumph in a tidy 2 hours, 34 minutes.

Krueger’s semifinal opponent will be American teenager Brandon Nakashima, who backed up his upset of No. 1 Thiago Monteiro by taking out eighth-seeded Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-3, 7-6(8). Nakashima erased the early hole he found himself in after losing serve in his first service game. The match would come down to a few crucial moments, with Nakashima converting on all three of his breaks points along with saving five of the seven he faced. McDonald did not go away easily, keeping the scoreboard pressure on throughout the duration of the second frame and the tiebreak before Nakashima won the match on his fourth match point.

Saturday’s other singles semifinal will see No. 4 seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran (India) across the net from American Christopher Eubanks. Gunneswaran turned in a dominating 6-0, 6-3 performance, earning six breaks along the way against a weary sixth-seeded Dmitry Popko (Kazakhstan), who had spent more than four hours on court the day before between singles and doubles.

Meanwhile, it was all about the serve of Eubanks, as he threw down 17 aces but was also forced to overcome 10 double faults to knock out No. 2 seed and fellow American Denis Kudla. Eubanks and Kudla each won 128 points for the match, but Kudla’s 2-of-18 conversion rate on break chances proved the difference in the 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3 marathon that could have gone either way.

Friday’s doubles action saw the second-seeded Kazakhstani tandem of Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov put forth their best effort of the week in downing the French duo of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 6-3, 7-5; the victory was the first in straight sets for Golubev and Nedovyesov after consecutive wins in match tiebreaks.

The final match of the day featured Krueger back on court with doubles partner Jackson Withrow (USA), as they took on top seeds Hans Hach Verdugo and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela of Mexico. Rain disrupted the warmup, delaying the start; play would also be suspended by another rain shower at 4-0 in the first set. Upon resumption, the No. 1 seeds easily shut the door on the first set, but a hold from Krueger and Withrow to kick off the second inexplicably provided a shift in the contest. A match tiebreak would end the night, where Krueger and Withrow went up by a couple of mini breaks and hung on for the 0-6, 6-1, 10-8 result.

Saturday’s order of play begins with the Gunneswaran and Eubanks matchup with the clash between Krueger and Nakashima to follow. The doubles final is scheduled for not before 2 p.m.

The 2020 Orlando Open is closed to the public; only credentialed guests will be able to access the tournament area. For more information on the 2020 Orlando Open presented by Nemours, including the daily order of play and live streaming links, click here.