Second seed Kyle Edmund and Denis Shapovalov both fell on Thursday in the Nature Valley International semi-finals.
Mikhail Kukushkin, currently No. 90 in the ATP Rankings, accounted for Edmund 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in two hours and 14 minutes, much to the disappointment of the British crowd at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne.
Edmund saved one set point at 5-4, Ad-Out in the first set on a run of four straight games. Kukushkin bounced back with breaks of serve in the third and ninth games in the second set of the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. The Kazakhstani then carried the momentum into the decider by winning the first three games.
Kukushkin, 30, is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since February 2017 at the Memphis Open (l. to Basilashvili). He will next face Mischa Zverev of Germany on the south coast of England.
Earlier in the day, Zverev came back from a 1-3 deficit in the second set to beat Shapovalov, the 19-year-old #NextGenATP Canadian, 6-3, 6-3 in 81 minutes. Zverev, 30, advances to his first semi-final since October 2017 at the Moselle Open in Metz (l. to Gojowczyk).
After three straight service breaks, Zverev’s greater length of shot unsettled Shapovalov, who was broken to love at the end of the 31-minute opener. Shapovalov regrouped and held three break points for a 4-1 advantage, but Zverev won five straight games, largely capitalising on Shapovalov’s second serve. The match ended with a backhand error from Shapovalov.
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