Coric enters semis of Tashkent Challenger

Croatian Borna Coric continued his good form to advance to the men's singles semi-finals Thursday by beating top seeded Serbian Dusan Lajovic 7-6(5), 7-5 in the Tashkent Challenger being played at the Olympic Tennis School Complex here.

Coric, 17, took an hour and 54 minutes to topple the top seed in the quarter-final. He will now take on third seeded Lukas Lacko, who outplayed sixth seeded Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and 27 minutes.

However, Lacko made it to the men's doubles final partnering Croat Ante Pavic. The pair won 6-3, 6-4 against Adrian Menendez-Maceiras of Spain and Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan. They face third seeded German pair of Frank Moser and Alexander Satschko, who defeated Moldavian Radu Albot and local player Farrukh Dustov 7-6(5), 3-6, 10-3.

In other singles last eight matches, fourth seeded Adrian Mannarino of France registered a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over Russia's Evgeny Donskoy. Mannarino will take on second seeded Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, who overcame Russian Anton Zaitcev 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in an hour and 51 minutes.

Fourth seeded Adrian Mannarino ousted unseeded Evgeny Donskoy of Russia 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.