Christo Popov became the first home men’s singles player to reach the French Open semifinals in the SuperSeries era, sweeping aside Chi Yu Jen 21-13 21-7 on Friday.

From the opening exchanges at the Glaz Arena, Popov was in the driving seat, maintaining a good cushion of points throughout each game that allowed him to dictate proceedings. His opponent’s attempts to force a comeback only played into the Frenchman’s hands.

“I was a bit more aggressive and accurate. He made some mistakes and tried to get back into it because I was leading for most of the match,” Popov explained.

A brief fightback from the Chinese Taipei shuttler at the start of the second game proved nothing more than a false dawn as Popov quickly reasserted his authority. Playing in front of a passionate home crowd provided the perfect fuel for Popov’s fire.

“It’s amazing playing at home and having the crowd cheer for me, giving me energy and feeding fire in the legs,” he beamed.

Standing in his Popov’s way in the semis is Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who battled past Alwi Farhan 21-14 16-21 21-8. The Thai star has made a habit of getting the better of Farhan this year, winning all three of their encounters.

“Sometimes when they’re juniors, they’re in a hurry to close the gap,” Vitidsarn said, reflecting on the key difference between the pair.

The physical toll of a long season is beginning to show on Vitidsarn, who admitted “feeling tired” after a runner-up finish at the Arctic Open and a quarterfinal exit at last week’s Denmark Open.

“Nevertheless, this has been a good season,” said the world No.2. “I focus on my mentality and my performance. I don’t have any secrets.”

Vitidsarn leads the head-to-head with Popov 3-2.

→ Results (Quarterfinals)

→ Order of play (Semifinals)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“Chen was watching the end of my match? Then I’m glad she saw it. She’s a great player and I didn’t play well against her at the World Championships but now I’m really ready.” – Game on for An Se Young and Chen Yu Fei after the Korean defeated Gao Fang Jie 17-21 21-11 21-18

“I had to make sure it wasn’t going to be three times. My body felt good today, we powered through. It came down to who had more stamina.” – Dechapol Puavaranukroh after he and Supissara Paewsampran finally got the better of Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito following two straight losses

“I had the fight in me. Tomoka is a good player and used the whole court. I had to be confident in my abilities and I’m happy to win a tough match.” – Han Yue on  surviving a dicey encounter against Tomoka Miyazaki 21-7 14-21 23-21