The Irish Open will be a good tournament to start with! When Golan celebrated his career-high world No10 ranking last September, he became the highest-ranked Spaniard of all-time β moving ahead of nineties star Austin Adarraga. In his third successive upset in the event, Spanish qualifier Golan claimed his biggest scalp when he beat second-seeded Scot Alan Clyne , , in 44 minutes. Golan is making his comeback after major knee surgery last year β since when he has seen his world ranking slump to 95 just seven months after holding the No10 slot.
The Aix-en-Provence-based Italian went on to reach the French final β and is now celebrating his 14th appearance in a Tour final in La Ciotat. Galifi, ranked 52 in the world, beat Frenchman Yann Perrin , the fourth seed, , , in the other semi-final.
The top-ranked Spaniard is making his comeback after major knee surgery β since when he has seen his world ranking slump to 95 just seven months after holding the No10 slot. But the year-old from Santiago DC showed signs of his former form as he despatched Frenchman Verseille , , in 31 minutes in the only straight games win of the day. Golan will have a tougher battle ahead of him as he takes on second seed Alan Clyne for a place in the final.
The fourth seed from Aix-en-Provence beat fifth seed Lee , , , , in one minute just short of an hour. It will be an all-Aix battle in the semi-finals as Perrin takes on Stephane Galifi , the top seed who is based in the French city but now plays under the Italian flag.
But the year-old qualifier, a former world No10 now ranked 85 places lower, twice had to come from behind to overcome Finitsis, the world No68 from Queensland in Australia, , , , , in 67 minutes. Golan, who began his Tour comeback trail last month at the Internationaux de France in Bordeaux β where he also reached the last eight as a qualifier β will now face fellow qualifier Fabien Verseille.
