Andreas Beck looks to continue his unbeaten run at the ATP Challenger Tour Finals when he plays Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in the last four today.
There was high drama in the Green Group on Friday as the standings were turned upside down. Rui Machado was strong favourite to qualify for the last four after winning his first two matches but the second seed was stunned by Stebe who produced one of his best performances of the year to overpower the Portuguese star 7-5, 6-0.
"When I got here I was a little nervous about the situation and only in the second set did I start feeling more comfortable," Stebe said afterwards. "Today things worked out pretty well; I played aggressively and was in control of the match. I think that playing like this I can be a dangerous rival for the title."
With Stebe and Machado level on two wins apiece and also level on sets won and lost, it came down to the head-to-head and Stebe's win saw him move into the semi-finals.
However he'll face a stiff test against Beck who's looked like a class act all week, not even dropping a set in any of his group matches. The German eased past Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 7-5 to qualify at the top of the Green Group and he'll take some stopping this weekend.
Prediction: Beck in two.
