(Dubai) The Czech Jiri Vesely, favorite winner Novak Djokovic in the previous round, took the measure of the Canadian Denis Shapovalov and won his ticket for the final of the Dubai tennis tournament on Friday.
Posted at 2:44 p.m.
Vesely, a qualifying player, prevailed in three tight sets of 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2) and 7-6 (3) after a match that lasted three hours and 12 minutes.
Vesely, effective in serving with 19 aces, will cross swords with Russian Andrey Rublev in the final. Rublev beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) in the other semi.
PHOTO EBRAHIM NOROOZI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jiri Vesely
Shapovalov totaled 14 double faults for just seven aces.
It was a first confrontation between the two lefties. The day before, Shapovalov had predicted an “aggressive” game, and that’s what happened.
Vesely caused the upset of the tournament in the quarter-finals by knocking down Djokovic. This defeat of the Serb means that he will lose his number one spot in the next update of the ATP rankings on Monday.
“No war, please”, pleads Rublev
After advancing to the final, Rublev wrote “No war, please” on a camera lens.
Russian troops concentrated their efforts near Ukraine’s capital Kiev on Friday on the second day of the invasion.
Rublev was not asked about this international dispute during his post-match on-court interview.
PHOTO SUHAIB SALEM, REUTERS
Andrey Rublev at the Dubai tournament against American Mackenzie McDonald
Thursday at the tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, his compatriot Daniil Medvedev mentioned that it had not been easy for him to see his country invade Ukraine.
“As a tennis player, I want to promote peace all over the world,” said the man who will become world number one on Monday.
“We play in many countries. It’s not easy to hear what’s going on. I am always in favor of peace. »
By The Canadian Press, with information from The Associated Press