Paul Jubb, the 24-year-old from Hull who is amongst this year’s Wimbledon wildcards, is preparing for The Championships in the Balearic Islands where, as a qualifier, he has reached the semi-finals of the ATP 250 level event, the Mallorca Championships.
It just kept getting better and better throughout the match. I was thriving out here tonight, Paul Jubb
The Brit, ranked 289 in the world, is having an excellent run having dropped just one set so far in his four matches, including qualifying, and that was dropped to the top seeded, world ranked 14 American Ben Shelton, 6-3 3-6 7-6(8) in the last eight.
“It just kept getting better and better throughout the match. I was thriving out here tonight,” Jubb said on-court afterwards.
The former South Carolina University student was pulled back after opening up a 4-0 gap in the opening set and with the match level at a set-all, held his nerve.
Shelton forced a decisive tie-break after holding off three match points but remained under pressure having to save another match points before Jubb finally claimed the semi-finals place after two-hours and 44-minutes on his seventh match point.
And to the American’s additional discomfort, he held a match pint himself during that tiebreak which Jubb snuffed out with a strong serve!
“This is obviously huge for me. Last year was so tough, injured most of the year,” Jubb reflected. “I’ve been working very, very hard to get back to this point. This is kind of one of those visions you’ve had in your mind for a long time, being on these stages at these tournaments. This is what I’ve been working for, so a bit of relief that I’m here and I’ve done it.”
Up next for Jubb is Austrian Sebastian Ofner, who defeated American Alex Michelsen 3-6 7-5 6-3.
In the bottom half the French veteran entertainer, Gael Monfils, advanced into the last four when he defeated Spain’s veteran Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3 4-6 6-4.
“Very tough. Roberto is a big warrior,” Monfils on reaching his second semi-final of the season.. “Even in the second set when he came back, I was up a break at 4-3, then he played really good, really solid. And then at the end, you could see the nerves were there. The crowd was behind both of us, so it was a big battle.”
Monfils’ next opponent, Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, is through to his seventh tour-level semi-final and his fifth of 2024 and is the first male from his country to reach a tour-level semi-final on grass since Jaime Fillol Sr. at Nottingham in 1977.
Gael Monfils enjoying his own run in Mallorca
(Photo by Manuel Queimadelos/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
