Fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas saved all seven break points he faced while cruising to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime on Saturday to win the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Tsitsipas won 83.3 percent (35 of 42) of his first-serve points to knock off Auger-Aliassime in 88 minutes. The Greek won the final four games of the first set then the final three games of the second set.
Auger-Aliassime won 70.6 percent (24 of 34) of his first-serve points, but his failure to convert a break point hurt. He was looking for his third title of this year and eighth of his career.
Movistar Chile Open
Serbia’s Laslo Djere upset top-seeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the semifinals in Santiago, Chile.
Ranked No. 103 in the world, Djere saved 5 of 6 break points and converted 4 of 9 opportunities. Cerundolo, No. 26 in the world, matched Djere with three double faults but countered with only two aces, to four for his opponent.
Djere next faces third-seeded Sebastian Baez, the defending champion who knocked out fellow Argentinian Camilo Ugo Carabelli in three sets, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. Baez beat Carabelli for the third time in three weeks and is 2-0 all-time against Djere. Baez converted 5 of 10 break-point opportunities vs. Carabelli.
Abierto Mexicano Telcel
Eighth-seeded Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic picked up his first career ATP Tour win, beating Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (6), 6-2 in Acapulco.
The 24-year-old Machac won 29 straight first-serve points at one stretch and won 37 of 39 first-serve points in the match. He will crack the top 20 for the first time when the updated rankings are released Monday.
Machac did have to sweat out one tense moment against the 25-year-old Davidovich Fokina, fending off a set point while down 5-6 in the first-set tiebreaker. Machac won the next three points, however, to take the set.
–Field Level Media
