Horacio Zeballos is one win away from a long-awaited return to a tournament final… But, he’ll have to take down the defending champion to get there.
The 32-year-old Argentine tennis player didn’t drop a serve in beating Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-1 at the Barcelona Open to reach the semifinals.
Zeballos, currently ranked No. 84 in the world, will play defending champion Rafael Nadal.
Zeballos is trying to reach his first ATP final since a memorable title run at the Chile Open four years ago.
Zeballos won his first pro title in February 2013 at that same Viña del Mar tournament. In the final, he beat Nadal, becoming one of the only four players (with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray) to beat the former world no. 1 in a clay-court final.