Filip Misolic's fairytale run towards a maiden ATP Tour final was put on a tantalizing hold by rain after a dramatic day at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel.
The #NextGenATP Austrian played the best part of six sets in front of a raucous home crowd on Friday, engineering two remarkable comebacks to move to within six points of the final in his first tour-level tournament at the clay-court ATP 250 event.
The wild card led Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 2-6, 6-6 (1/0) when heavy rain brought play to a close just as the deciding-set tie-break started in the Austrian Alps. Misolic had trailed 2020 finalist Hanfmann 1-4 in the third set before rallying, and the pair will return on Saturday to complete their first ATP Head2Head meeting.
The winner is then set to face Roberto Bautista Agut in the championship match, after the third seed defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 7-6(3) to reach his third tour-level final of the year.
Misolic had begun the day with a tense 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 win against Dusan Lajovic in a quarter-final clash delayed from Thursday due to rain. The home favourite recovered a 2-6, 3-5 deficit to upset the former World No. 23, with his exciting brand of shotmaking frequently bringing the passionate home crowd to their feet.
Prior to his quarter-final win against Lajovic, Misolic had prevailed against Daniel Dutra da Silva and then Pablo Andujar in Kitzbühel. The World No. 205, who was born in Austria to Croatian parents, has shown good form on the clay already this year, lifting his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title on the surface in Zagreb in May.
Misolic and Hanfmann’s cliffhanger clash is the second meeting between the pair in the space of 12 days, after the German was a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-0 winner in the first round of qualifying for last week’s EFG Swiss Open Gstaad.
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