Roberto Carballes Baena stuns Brit Dan Evans in Grand Prix Hassan II to reach second tour-level final in Marrakech

Dan Evans’ hopes of a second career ATP title were dashed when he was knocked out of the Grand Prix Hassan II at the semi-final stage.

Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena advanced to his second tour-level final after he beat the Briton 2-6 6-4 6-2, and will face Alexandre Muller in the tournament decider on Sunday.

Evans – who was seeded second only behind Lorenzo Musetti, who was eliminated in Friday’s quarter-finals – looked to be on his way to a fourth ATP final when he won the first set.

Carballes Baena, 30, broke Evans in the second set – for the first time since the opening game – to make it 5-4 after the set had gone with serve until that point, and then levelled the score.

Back-to-back breaks for Carballes Baena helped him take a convincing 2-0 lead in the decider.

His relentless baseline game continued and he was able to break for a third time in the match to go 4-1 up, before saving a break point in the following service game and confirming the win.

“I don’t know why, but all the time that I come here I think I play my best tennis,” said Carballes Baen after the match. “I won my first Challenger also here [in Morocco].

“I feel very good and I will try to do a good match tomorrow.”

The result was Carballes Baena’s only win against a top 35-ranked opponent this year, in what was his first tour-level semi-final since 2021.

Elsewhere, Casper Ruud was in action and qualified for the Estoril Open final.

He beat Quentin Halys 6-4 3-6 7-6(2) at Estadio Millennium in Portugal on Saturday afternoon to reach his first semi-final of the year.

The Norwegian will face Miomir Kecmanovic in the final, after he eliminated Italian player Marco Cecchinato in a straight-sets win.

Jessica Pegula beat Paul Badosa 6-3 7-6 in the Charleston Open to reach the semi-finals.

The tournament’s top seed will take on a tough test in Belinda Bencic, seeded fourth, and one of those will face either Ons Jabeur or Daria Kasatkina in the final.

Jabeur and Kasatkina are in action on Saturday evening in the other semi-final.