Radu Albot is no stranger to tough situations.

In his first ATP singles final at the 2019 Delray Beach Open in Florida, he came from one set down against Briton Daniel Evans while saving three championship points to become the first Moldovan to lift an ATP title.

At the recent Australian Open, the world No. 76 again came from behind to beat 12th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets in the first round. He eventually lost to Norwegian Casper Ruud in the third round.

Yesterday, before his quarter-final match against top seed Adrian Mannarino in the Singapore Tennis Open, Albot was not feeling his best. He had played a gruelling match over two hours, 42 minutes on Thursday, when he had to stave off three match points against German Yannick Hanfmann.

But Albot, one of Moldova's most high-profile athletes, shook the weariness off to beat world No. 35 Mannarino 6-3, 6-4 at the OCBC Arena.

The sixth seed said: "Yesterday was a tough match that I almost lost. It was a tiring one and I didn't feel very fresh this morning.

"But I had a good warm-up and a good physio session then I think I switched on and didn't feel tired any more."

The 31-year-old was two breaks up in the second set but had to hold off a spirited Mannarino, who saved five match points and reduced Albot's lead to just one game at 5-4. Serving for the set for the second time, Albot made it count.

With his performance on the tour, he admitted that he is "well-known" in Moldova - which has an estimated population of 3.5 million, according to the BBC, and has few public courts and coaches - but does not feel additional pressure because of it. Alexander Cozbinov is the next highest ranked Moldovan at No. 723.

Albot, who is from the Moldovan capital of Chisinau, said: "I just do my thing. If I have a match tomorrow, I focus on this match.

"If I win, good. If I don't, I focus on the next one and keep practising and improving.

"It's not easy (to become a good athlete in my country). One important thing is you need to leave the country and practise elsewhere where tennis is more developed... with better coaches and better facilities."

For a spot in his second ATP singles final, he will have to beat Kazakh fourth seed Alexander Bublik, who downed Japanese fifth seed Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-2.

In another quarter-final, 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic was made to work before claiming a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 victory over South Korean Kwon Soon-woo.

"I need several more matches to get on to a good level of my game and be consistent. Consistency wins matches and that's something that's missing at the moment," said Cilic.

"I'm in the semi-finals but there's still a long way to go and I have to keep my head down and work as much as I can and it would be best if I can come through tomorrow and hopefully in the final as well."

He next faces Australian world No. 114 Alexei Popyrin, who reached his first top-level semi-final after beating compatriot Matthew Ebden 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) in a close affair.

In the doubles event, German top seeds Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen booked their spot in the final after beating English pair Luke Bambridge and Dominic Inglot 6-4, 6-4.

ATP SINGAPORE OPEN

S-finals: StarHub Ch211, 3pm