Determined Pouille Fights Into Australian Open Semi-finals

Lucas Pouille, playing some of the best tennis of his career, booked a place in his first Grand Slam championship semi-final on Wednesday evening at the Australian Open.

The Frenchman’s decision to hire former WTA No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, a one-time coach to Andy Murray, is reaping dividends after a spelling-binding performance on serve to knock out Canadian No. 16 seed Milos Raonic 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4 in three hours and two minutes.

Pouille had never won a match at Melbourne Park and had made only one Grand Slam quarter-final (2016 US Open) before this month. But on Friday, he'll face either World No. 1 and six-time former champion Novak Djokovic or eighth seed Kei Nishikori for a place in a major championship final.

Few have surprised more this fortnight than the 24-year-old Frenchman, who cracked the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings last March, but ended the year outside the Top 30. He struggled with motivation and confidence, and began losing. Pouille made three finals — the Open Sud de France, the Open 13 Provence and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships — last February, but made only one semi-final the remainder of the year.

More to follow…

from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2RFrmiJ