Daily Bagel: Halep, Pliskova in Dubai final; Young makes second ATP semi
The Daily Bagel is your dose of the interesting reporting, writing and quipping from around the Internet.
• The final of the Dubai Championships will come down to No. 1 Simona Halep vs. No. 18 Karolina Pliskova. Halep rallied from a set down to rout Caroline Wozniacki 2-6, 6-1, 6-1, while Pliskova had her hands full against Garbine Muguruza, eventually winning 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. The latter was a great match and worth watching if you can catch a replay. Halep could move up to No. 3 with the Dubai title, while Pliskova could move as high as No. 11. She's now made two Premier finals this year.
• Donald Young is into his second straight ATP semifinal, beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Delray Beach quarterfinals. Here's an interview with him from the ATP website.
• No. 59 Sergiy Stakhovsky pulled off the upset of the day, beating No. 2 seed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Marseille Open. Gael Monfils and Roberto Bautista Agut advanced to the semifinals earlier in the day.
• Rafael Nadal is into the quarterfinals at the Rio Open. Watch his crazy defensive effort in his opening match against Thomaz Bellucci:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LxMJSOyEEc]
• Speaking of unbelievable defense, take it away, Simona Halep:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTznI_Beh8A]
• An unnamed tennis player has been charged with match-fixing in Australia.
• If you haven't been watching much of the Dubai Championships this week, you may have missed out on Halep's SuperFan. She's stolen the show.
• Translated from Tennis Translations: Agnieszka Radwanska's coach Tomasz Witkorowski says a dip in form is expected because she's trying to adapt to a more offensive style.
• Joao Souza would go on to win this match in three sets, but check out this match point miss in Rio:
[youtube=http://youtu.be/GVTQ00tks9s]
