Thursday quarterfinal day at the 2023 Copa del Café featured 8 singles and 4 doubles matches starting at noon, so that by the end of the night only 4 boys and 4 girls were alive in singles and the 2 doubles draws had defined finalists. During the afternoon there was a threat of a light drizzle but this quickly evaporated.

In the boys draw the talented 7^th seed Henry SEARLE of GBR ranked 81 in the world handled the unseeded American Nikita FILIN in straight sets 6-2, 7-5. Henry is strong and experienced and has cruised through the draw up to this point and is a formidable competitor. He is also a doubles finalist with Norwegian Nicolai BUDKOV KJAER so regardless will stick around until Saturday when all 4 finals will be played starting in the afternoon.

Henry`s semifinalist opponent will be 5th seed American Roy HOROVITZ, ranked 79. Roy defeated 3<sup>rd</sup> seed Petr BRUNCLIK from Czech Republic ranked 66 in 3 sets 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in a tough match that on paper seems to be a mild upset, but Roy`s superior WTN rating of 10.13 vs. 13.13 for BRUNCLIK suggests otherwise. Roy will now face off against the Englishman in a match that is too close to call. In terms of ranking Roy is 79 vs. 81 for Henry, and in terms of WTN Roy is slightly better than Henry`s 10.34.

In the lower half of the draw there are no seeded players left. One of the semifinal slots has been taken by 15 year old wild card Thijs BOOGAARD from Holland. He surprised Duncan CHAN of Canada seeded 6 in the second round and in quarterfinals dispatched the tough American Alexander RAZEGHI ranked 77 and seeded 4 by a comfortable 6-2, 6-2. This was bit of a shock since RAZEGHI boasts the best WTN rating in the tournament by a good margin, 8.63. Thijs last year won the prestigious international tournament Le Petit As near Toulouse, France. This tournament is for 14 year olds and the hall of fame includes names that perhaps the reader has heard of: Djokovic, Federer, Ferrero, Murray, Nadal, Wawrinka, etc.,etc., etc.  The Dutchman will be a force to contend with.

BOOGAARD`s opponent will be unseeded American Maxwell EXSTED ranked 173 who has come in from the Qualy. On paper his credentials are less impressive than the others, but tennis matches are not played on paper. On the courts Max has cruised through the draw without dropping a set eliminating: no. 2 seed Phoeniz WEIR of GBR in the first round in straight sets, 7-6(6), 6-2,  the tough American Stiles BROCKETT by 6-4, 6-1 in the second round and the talented Chilean Benjamin TORREALBA by 6-2, 6-1 in the QF. Let`s see what happens in this matchup.

In the Girls draw the talented and steady Alanis HAMILTON of USA dispatched fellow American Valeria RAY seeded 6 by a comfortable 6-2, 6-3. Alanis is a quiet girl who plays better than her ranking of 147 suggests and has the third best WTN rating in the field (12.12). She is graceful and composed on court and is also a doubles finalist with fellow American Claire AN.

HAMILTON will face Iva JOVIC of USA ranked 35 and seeded 3. Iva defeated her doubles partner Tyra GRANT in the QF as GRANT retired due to an injury that perhaps was more strategic than real since in their subsequent doubles match against Ruby COOLING of GBR and Natalia PEREZ of Puerto Rico GRANT played extremely well poaching every ball in sight. JOVIC  is a crafty and strong player and shares the best WTN rating in the tournament with QUEVEDO. Iva has won her previous matches by 6-0, 6-3, and by 6-0, 6-0 and is a very difficult opponent for any player. She is also in the doubles final with GRANT.

In the bottom half of the draw unseeded Mika BUCHNIK from Israel has earned her slot by defeating Gloria NAHUM of Benin 6-4, 6-1 taking all the African could muster.  Mika had earlier dispatched Isabelle LACY of Britain in a hard fought match, similarly taking all the talented LACY could come up with, in the end outlasting her opponents. The Israeli player is not flashy but has superb defensive skills and displays serenity on court. She should not be underestimated. BUCHNIK is ranked 102 and has a WTN rating of 16.93.

The last semifinalist is no. 2 seed American Kaitlin QUEVEDO. Kaitlin is a tough competitor and last night came back from match point down to defeat the determined Austrian no. 5 seed Tamara KOSTIC by 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-1 in a thrilling match. Her earlier matches were easy wins over unseeded and less ranked  opponents so her first big test was against the Austrian. Ranked 21 and with the best WTN rating (shared with JOVIC) in the field Kaitlin has the credentials, but must once again meet the challenge against the determined Israeli BUCHNIK.