semifinal

noun

1. A playoff in the round with only four players or teams left, the stage before the final.

   “Roger Federer extended his grasscourt streak to 57 matches with a victory over Marcos Baghdatis and will play Nicolas Kiefer in the semifinals of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany.”

   “In the 1991 Wimbledon semifinal between Michael Stich and Stefan Edberg, there was just one service break in the entire match, and the guy whose serve was broken, Stich, ended up winning the match!”

   “The highly anticipated all-American matchup between Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe — marking the first US Open semifinals between two US men in nearly 20 years — will cost you quite a few Honey Deuces to attend.”

   “Badosa has the slightly more explosive power, but if Navarro can redirect the pace of Badosa’s shots effectively, she could well be on the way to a first Grand Slam semifinal.”

2. A competition that narrows a field of contestants (semifinalists) to a set of finalists, for a subsequent final.