Hanfmann, Fognini in final

Edmund stuns top seed Sock to reach semis

GSTAAD, Switzerland, July 29, (AFP): German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann reached his maiden career final in Gstaad on Saturday with a tight 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4) win over sixth seed Robin Haase, saving four match points in the process.

The 170th-ranked Hanfmann, who has suffered from a hearing impairment since birth, will face Italy’s Fabio Fognini in Sunday’s final.

Fourth seed Fognini defeated Spanish second Roberto Bautista Agut 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in his semi-final.

“I saw him play this whole week and told my team that he’s going to be dangerous. But I’m going to go for it and try to win the title.”

In Washington, Britain’s Kyle Edmund won nine of the last 10 games to upset US top seed Jack Sock 6-4, 6-1 Friday and reach the ATP BB&T Open semi-finals.

Edmund, a 22-year-old born in South Africa, advanced to his second career ATP semi-final after last year’s European Open in Antwerp. He has yet to reach an ATP final.

Sock broke Edmund in the seventh game but the Briton broke back in the eighth and 10th games, capturing the first set in 59 minutes, then took only 29 more to finish off the match.

Blocking the world number 45’s path to the championship match of the US Open hardcourt tuneup in Atlanta is American fourth seed Ryan Harrison, who ousted 461st-ranked US wildcard Christopher Eubanks 6-1, 6-2.

Harrison, ranked 42nd, won his only ATP title in February at Memphis without dropping a set. He has never faced Edmund.

In Hamburg, Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer will face Germany’s Florian Mayer in the Hamburg claycourt final on Sunday, the third time the namesakes have clashed on the ATP Tour.

Leonardo Mayer, ranked 138th in the world and the 2014 champion at the tournament, made the final with a 6-3, 7-5 win over compatriot Federico Delbonis.

Florian Mayer, 33 years old and 101 in the rankings, reached the championship match when fellow German Philipp Kohlschreiber retired through injury in the second set.

Kohlschreiber took the first set 6-4 but quit at 3-2 down in the second.

In their two previous meetings on the tour, Leonardo Mayer triumphed in Delray Beach in 2010 with his German rival winning in Halle three years later.

In Beijing, Japan’s Nao Hibino demolished wildcard Wang Yafan in the last four of the Jiangxi Open on Saturday to deny the hosts an all-Chinese final.

The 22-year-old Hibino, who has one WTA title already to her name, faces the number two seed and remaining home hope Peng Shuai in the decider on the hard courts of Nanchang, southeast China on Sunday.