Canadian Denis Shapovalov earned his ticket to the Vienna Tennis Tournament final with a straight-set 7-6(4), 6-0 victory over Croatian Borna Coric on Saturday afternoon.
Facing a rival against whom he had suffered two losses in three career meetings, Shapovalov won in 1h 28 minutes thanks in particular to a efficiency rate of 95 percent (37 points out of 39) after lodging his first serve ball in play.
After a 55-minute battle in the first set, Shapovalov needed only 33 minutes to win the second set.
The 23-year-old Ontarian had seven aces, all in the first set, and faced only one break point, which he managed to erase in the third game of the second set. He himself scored three service breaks in four opportunities, all acquired during the second set.
Since the beginning of the week, Shapovalov has won his four matches and conceded, in passing, a single set. He notably defeated the American Taylor Fritz, 10th player in the world, and the Briton Daniel Evans, ranked 26th.
With this victory, Shapovalov will participate in a sixth career final and a second in 2022. On October 2, he lost in the final match of the South Korean tournament, against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka.
He will also try to add a second title to his list, after his triumph in Stockholm in 2019.
“I’m just happy to move on to the next round and find myself in another final this season and beating some great players along the way,” Shapovalov said in his on-court interview after the game.
“I’m thrilled with my performance this week, and today was another great game. Borna plays excellent tennis, he beat some very good players this week, so I’m very happy to have won today and very satisfied with my game,” added the Canadian.
In Sunday’s final, Shapovalov will face Russian Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 in the other semi-final previously presented.
Former world number one, Medvedev has won his last three games against the Canadian after losing the first two.
“I’ve had trouble against him in our last two games. It’s very hard to play against him. He annoys a lot of players and therefore, it will be a very difficult match. But I have confidence in myself, I think I play really good tennis. I will challenge him and I will fight with all my heart. »
Serving Dominants
In the first set, Shapovalov and Coric left only crumbs to the opponent on their service.
Of the two, Coric was the least generous, giving only six points to Shapovalov while he managed to collect nine when the Canadian was serving.
However, it was Shapovalov who saved himself with the tiebreaker by registering the only mini-break of this decisive game from the very first point.
The Canadian followed up by winning his serve to start the second set and from then on, Coric seemed to lose all his means.
In his three service games, the 25-year-old Croatian has only gained five points. He committed two double faults and the second came to end the game.