Roberto Bautista Agut to face Gilles Muller in Sofia Open semi-final

Top seed Roberto Bautista Agut is through to the semi-finals of the inaugural Sofia Open after beating Adrian Mannarino in his first match of the tournament.

The Spaniard was in the last eight without even taking to the court, having been given a first-round bye and then a walkover when Filip Krajinovic pulled out of their last-16 contest due to injury.

Bautista Agut finally made his tournament debut on Friday and needed just 69 minutes to see off eighth seed Mannarino 6-4 6-3.

World number 18 Bautista Agut equalled his best showing at a grand slam when he reached the fourth round of the Australian Open last month on the back of winning the ASB Classic in Auckland.

And the 27-year-old is just two victories away from claiming his second title of the year after breaking twice and not allowing his French opponent a solitary opportunity to secure a break of his own.

"It is never easy to start a tournament in the quarter-finals, especially when your opponent has played two matches," said Bautista Agut.

"I think I did a great job. It is also never easy to play against him. I think I competed well and that's why I could beat him."

Gilles Muller stands in the way of Bautista Agut and a place in the final after the sixth seed was a 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 winner over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

An all-Spanish semi-final looked to be on the cards when Garcia-Lopez led 5-2 in the opening set, but Muller came storming back and saved three set points before adding insult to injury by winning the tie-break.

Muller then won the only break point of the second set to set up a clash with Bautista Agut.

On the other side of the draw, second seed Viktor Troicki defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-4 to set up a semi-final encounter against Martin Klizan, who defeated Andreas Seppi 6-4 6-3.