ITF World Tour Luxembourg Open tennis 2025; Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu

On Friday 24 January 2025, the semi-final matchups for both the men’s and women’s tournaments at the ITF World Tour Luxembourg Open tennis were confirmed at the Centre National de Tennis (CNT) in Esch-sur-Alzette.

Men's Singles

In the men’s singles draw, Luxembourg’s Chris Rodesch (ATP ranked #286) emerged as the sole home player to reach the top four. Rodesch secured a hard-fought victory over France’s Mathias Bourgue (ATP ranked #278) in a match that lasted over two hours, winning 6:2, 4:6, 6:2. He will face Norway’s Nicolai Budkov Kjaer (ATP ranked #506) in the semi-final after the Norwegian defeated Germany’s Patrick Zahraj (ATP ranked #463) in straight sets, 6:3, 6:3.

The second semi-final features Estonia’s Daniil Glinka (ATP ranked #495), who eliminated second-seeded Viktor Durasovic in the opening round and later ousted Ukraine’s Illia Beloborodko (ATP ranked #883) with a 7:6, 6:1 victory in the quarter-finals. Glinka will take on Sweden’s Mikael Ymer, a former top-50 player, who staged a comeback against Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos (ATP ranked #406), winning 4:6, 6:4, 6:3 in a two-and-a-half-hour thriller.

Speaking exclusively to Chronicle.lu, Ymer shared his thoughts: “I’m really happy to be back playing again, and today was very tough. A lot of running, but it’s a good test to see where I’m at and what level I’m at. I came here with few expectations, just taking it day by day, and so far, it’s going well. This season, my goal is to stay injury-free and see how far I can go – maybe break into the top 500, 400, or even 300 in the world rankings.”

Women's Singles

In the women’s singles, Dutch player Anouk Vrancken Peeters (WTA ranked #891) secured a spot in the semi-finals after defeating France’s Harmony Tan (WTA ranked #288) in three sets, 1:6, 6:3, 6:3. She will face Britain’s Emily Appleton (WTA ranked #416), who overcame France’s Amandine Monnot (WTA ranked #715) in a closely contested three-set match, 6:7, 6:3, 6:4.

The second semi-final will see Individual Neutral Athlete Alisa Oktiabreva (WTA ranked #1005) take on Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam (WTA ranked #479). Oktiabreva defeated Anastasia Kulikova (WTA ranked #390) in straight sets, 6:2, 6:3, while Friedsam ended the run of another Individual Neutral Athlete, Julia Avdeeva (WTA ranked #245), with a commanding 6:2, 6:3 win.

Doubles

In the doubles tournament, the finalists are now known. In the women’s final, the top-seeded Czech duo Aneta Kucmova and Aneta Laboutkova will face the Ukrainian-French pair Veronika Podrez and Marine Podrez. On the men’s side, the top-seeded team of Alexander Donski (Bulgaria) and Bruno Pujol Navarro (Spain) will compete against the second-seeded duo of Sandro Kopp (Austria) and Michael Vrbensky (Czechia).

The doubles finals and singles semi-finals will take place on Saturday 25 January 2025, at the CNT, with the singles finals scheduled for Sunday 26 January 2025. Admission is free for spectators.