Jan-Lennard Struff bounced back from a slow start on Saturday to book a place in his first ATP Tour final at the BMW Open. The seventh-seeded German broke a seven-match losing streak in semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Belarusian qualifier Ilya Ivashka in 87 minutes.
"I am happy to have reached my first final on home soil in Germany and I will try my best tomorrow," said the 31-year-old from Warstein, a 360-mile car ride north of Munich.
He will next challenge second-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud or fifth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in Sunday’s final. Struff leads Ruud 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series and is tied at 2-2 against Basilashvili, who won their recent Sardegna Open clash 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the Cagliari quarter-finals.
[WATCH LIVE 1]
Ivashka raced out to a 3-0 lead, before Struff started to find his service rhythm and forehand range. Struff, who saved three break points at 4-3, closed out the 48-minute opener with an unreturned serve.
Ivashka showed fighting spirit by saving three break points in the opening game of the second set, but Struff make the breakthrough two games later with a powerful backhand. The German gained a 4-1 advantage with a forehand return winner and didn’t look back.
The 27-year-old Ivashka, who beat two-time former champion and top seed Alexander Zverev on Friday, had also been attempting to reach his first ATP Tour final.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3e8yJc5
No comments:
Post a Comment