Lucas Pouille and Roberto Bautista Agut power into Dubai semis

Frenchman Lucas Pouille secured his place in the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships be overcoming Yuichi Sugita on Thursday.

The number two seed recovered from losing the first set to win 3-6 6-3 6-2 in just under two hours.

“I think after I lost the first set, I started to be a bit more aggressive, especially on the return,” he told atpworldtour.com afterwards.

“I was very close from the baseline, even sometimes inside the court to return the second serve. That put him under pressure and I think that made the difference.”

Pouille will play Filip Krajinovic in the semi-finals after the Serbian dropped only three games in brushing aside Evgeny Donskoy 6-1 6-2.

Third seed Roberto Bautista Agut beat Borna Coric 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 in their quarter-final to set up a last-four clash with Malek Jaziri, who saw off fellow wildcard Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 3-6 6-3.