08.06.2023 14:37:23 | The first semi-finalist was decided by a closely watched derby match between two club mates Jakub Menšík and Dalibor Svrčina. The opening set between the two friends went to tie-break in which Svrčina was more patient and gained a psychological advantage. The defending champion of last year's final took perfect use of it, broke Menšík's serve in the fourth game and took a 3-1 lead. This broke his opponent for good.
"The ending of the first set significantly affected the rest of the match. Even Menšík had a set point in it. We played toe to toe and I eventually came out as the winner," said Svrčina who could read his opponent's game well throughout the match and was able to take advantage of it in the ending. "Good reading and anticipation of the game is a gift I have. It really helped that Jakub and I know each other so well. Most of the time, I was able to guess what he was going to do and adapted my game to it," Svrčina added.
The defeated Menšík considered his appearance in the quarter-finals a decent success, yet immediately after the match his disappointment from the missed opportunity prevailed. "I wanted to go on. The beginning wasn’t too bad, but from the mid of the first set Dalibor practically stopped making mistakes and it was hard to find any weapon against him. I tried to change something, but he couldn't be stopped," admitted Menšík. "I felt good physically because I had not played long matches previously. Dalibor was just better today," said Menšík in appraisal of his opponent.
