Ferrer reaches Swedish Open final
Originally published on 22/07/17 00:00
The 35-year-old is into his first championship match since the Vienna Open in 2015 and he has the opportunity to win a 27th career title on Sunday. His opponent will be Alexandr Dolgopolov, who overcame Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3 6-2 in the first semi-final of the afternoon.
Ferrer’s season has been marred by niggling injuries however he appears to back to full fitness and eager to make up for lost time. The former French Open finalist, who saved two match-points in his hard-earned victory over Henri Laaksonen at the quarter-final stage, made a promising start in his latest showdown with his countryman.
This was the 21st meeting between the two veterans and Verdasco struggled to find his range in the early stages. Ferrer’s disciplined play was enough to earn him the opener for the concession of just one game.
Verdasco’s famous forehand began to crack winners in the second set and he was able to take the match the distance after winning a tiebreak in convincing fashion. An early break in the decider, though, was all Ferrer required to reach a 52nd career final.
Elsewhere, there was delight for Andrey Rublev. The mercurial Russian reached his first ATP tour-level final by defeating home favourite, Ivan Dodig, 7-6(4) 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Croatia Open in Umag. The 19-year-old will take on Paolo Lorenzi in the final.
At the last grass-court event of the summer in Newport, John Isner downed Bjorn Fratangelo 6-2 6-4 to reach his first final of the year. The big-serving American will play Matthew Ebden, who defeated Peter Gojowczyk for the loss of just six games, in the championship match on Sunday.
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