TENNIS ROUNDUP
Third-seeded Steve Johnson beat Marcel Granollers, 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Hall of Fame Tennis Open final. The 28-year-old American will face Ramkumar Ramanathan in this morning’s final. Ramanathan, of India, topped American Tim Smyczek, 6-4, 7-5. The semis were played on Newport’s grass court after the induction of Michael Stich and Helena Sukova into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Johnson, a champion in Houston earlier this season, will be seeking his fourth career ATP title. Ramanathan is looking for his first. “It’s just being comfortable in finals. This is his first ATP final and that’s new ground for him,” Johnson said. “Maybe he comes out with nerves, maybe he doesn’t. Hopefully I can use my experience to come out, be solid and put the pressure on him.” Johnson, ranked No. 48 in world coming into the week, needed just 70 minutes to advance, getting to a handful of tough shots that seemed to frustrate the Spaniard. “I’ve been on the other side of that many times. I know what it feels like,” Johnson said. “Very happy today to be in the driver’s seat of that situation, especially out here. Very happy to run down a few balls and make some passing shots.” The final was moved up from a scheduled 3 p.m. start to 11 a.m. due to the forecast of heavy rain.
Fabio Fognini edged Fernando Verdasco for the first time on clay to reach the Swedish Open final against Richard Gasquet. Fognini won 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 even after losing two break leads in the deciding set of their 2-hour, 17-minute semifinal. “Beating Fernando is really difficult. He is a great champion,” Fognini said. He lost his previous three matches with the Spaniard on clay. This time, the Italian prevented Verdasco from reaching a third final in Bastad, after 2013 and 2016. No. 3-seeded Fognini and No. 4 Gasquet will be going for their second ATP titles this year. Gasquest stopped lucky loser Henri Laaksonen 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals.
Mandy Minella has a chance at becoming the third mother to win a WTA singles title in the last 12 months after reaching the Ladies Championships Gstaad final. Minella, of Luxembourg, overcame 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to reach her first career final at 32. She will meet top-seeded Alize Cornet of France, who beat Eugenie Bouchard 7-6 (5), 1-0 when the Canadian retired with a right thigh injury in their semifinal. “I was congratulating her after each of her matches,” Cornet said of Minella. “Being a mom, it’s not easy — it’s such a comeback.” Minella gave birth to a daughter in October. The other mothers to win in the past year were Kateryna Bondarenko in Tashkent last year, and Tatjana Maria at Mallorca last month. Cornet will be going for her sixth WTA singles title, but first in more than two years. She was broken by Bouchard early but broke straight back. Cornet saved four set points in the seventh game, and Bouchard saved three in the 10th. Cornet prevailed in a tight tiebreaker by being the first to win two points in a row. Bouchard then couldn’t play on in her first semifinal in 18 months.