O'Connell blasts past Brooksby in San Diego upset
Australia's Christopher O'Connell caused a huge upset at the San Diego Open, beating No.2 seed Jenson Brooksby 6-4 4-6 7-5 to reach the semi-finals on Saturday (AEST).
While the top half of the draw played out as the seeding predicted, O'Connell's compatriot James Duckworth losing out to No.3 seed Marcos Giron, there was no stopping O'Connell as he eventually blasted past Brooksby having saved two match points.
The Australian had a clear serving advantage, smacking 14 aces compared to four for Brooksby, and O'Connell also racked up a massive 50 winners with 16 unforced errors. Brooksby had 24 winners with 21 unforced errors.
Despite being the better shot-maker on the day, O'Connell had to save two match points to keep his chances alive, and broke Brooksby as the American tried to serve it out, rattling off four consecutive games to end the match.
O'Connell will face Brandon Nakashima in the semi-final after he emerged victorious 6-3 4-6 6-4 against Daniel Elahi Galan.
Nakashima has now won five of his past six matches, with the only loss in that stretch coming against Jannik Sinner in the US Open.
No.1 seed Daniel Evans is also through to the last four in San Diego after defeating Constant Lestienne 6-1 6-3 in their quarter-final.
It was arguably a closer contest than the final score indicated, with Evans creating 13 break point opportunities while Lestienne created 11, but the Englishman was able to save 10 of the 11 he faced while converting five himself.
Ultimately the difference between the two players was Evans's ability to avoid wasteful errors, posting 23 winners with 12 unforced errors while Lestienne had 15 winners with 21 unforced errors.
Evans will play Giron for a spot in the final after the American beat Australia's Duckworth 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
It was a match that was decided by the efficiency of Giron, who was more accurate with his serve, landing 59 per cent of his first serves fair compared to 47 per cent for Duckworth.
The Australian actually created more break point chances – eight to three – but while he converted two of his eight chances, Giron turned all three into breaks.
