Tiago Pereira is heading to another semi-final. The Portuguese tennis player and his Dutch partner, Mats Hermans, battled their way into the final four of the Sofia challenger doubles tournament. They secured their spot on Thursday after a hard-fought match against the Polish team of Szymon Kielan and Filip Pieczonka. The victory wasn’t easy, stretching to three sets over one hour and 31 minutes.
The Portuguese-Dutch duo took down a tough team. Kielan and Pieczonka were the third seeds in the tournament. Pereira, ranked 197th in doubles, and Hermans, ranked 181st, pulled off the upset against their higher-ranked opponents. Kielan sits at 154th in the world, while Pieczonka is 145th. The final score was 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), and 10-4, showing just how close the contest was.
Now, a new challenge awaits them in the semi-finals. Pereira and Hermans will face Bogdan Pavel and Alexandru Jecan from Romania. The Romanian pair also presents a solid test, with Jecan ranked 160th and Pavel ranked 219th in the world for doubles.
This marks a strong season for Tiago Pereira on the challenger circuit. This is his fourth trip to a semi-final this year. He has advanced to the final round twice already. In Barletta, Italy, he and Hermans fell short. He also reached the final in Segovia, Spain, playing alongside Bulgarian Alexander Donski, but couldn’t clinch the title.