Fabio Fognini extended his match-win streak to six on Thursday at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel and is now two matches away from winning back-to-back titles on the ATP World Tour.
The second-seeded Italian, the lone seed remaining in the clay-court tournament, made quick work of Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, breaking him seven times to advance 6-3, 6-1 in 65 minutes.
Fognini captured his fifth ATP World Tour crown last week at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad, beating German Yannick Hanfmann in the Swiss Alps mountain town.
He'll try to make his second consecutive final when he faces Kitzbühel resident and 2015 champion Philipp Kohlschreiber. The German saved six of seven break points to beat 2016 semi-finalist Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in two hours and 32 minutes.
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“I'm just happy because I still think I'm playing really good. Tomorrow I have a really tough, tough match with a great opponent, so hopefully I continue like this. Of course, winning is always good but I'm happy if I lose and I play well,” Fognini said.
#NextGenATP Austrian Sebastian Ofner continued to impress the home fans by reaching his first ATP World Tour semi-final. The 21-year-old wild card prevailed past Renzo Olivo of Argentina 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
Ofner, No. 157 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, ousted top seed Pablo Cuevas, a six-time clay-court titlist, in a third-set tie-break to face Olivo. The Austrian is coming off his breakthrough Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon, where he beat 17th seed Jack Sock to reach the third round before falling to #NextGenATP Alexander Zverev.
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Ofner will next face Portugal's Joao Sousa, who beat 2016 semi-finalist Gerald Melzer 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. Sousa knocked out defending champion Paolo Lorenzi of Italy to reach his fifth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. He will look to make his second final of the season (also Auckland).