Italian breaks drought for berth in final
ANDREAS Seppi was the first player through to the men’s final at the Sydney International yesterday, ending a barren three-and-a-half year run for the Italian.
Seppi ran through Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, taking control of the semi-final in a first-set tiebreaker before eventually winning 7-6 (7-3) 6-4. He’ll now play the winner of last night’s other semi-final between Australian Alex de Minaur and Gilles Simon.
The world No.37 Seppi hasn’t played in an ATP world tour final since June 2015 in Halle, Germany, while his last win was way back in Moscow in 2012.
However, the 34-year-old has enjoyed a solid run in Sydney this year, knocking over No.1 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets in their quarterfinal on Thursday before beating Schwartzman yesterday.
UNSEEDED Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova upset former world No.7 Belinda Bencic 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-2 to be the first player through to the Hobart International final.
World No.77 Schmiedlova, who cracked the top 30 four years ago, reeled off the last four games of the match to beat a frustrated and emotional Bencic.
Schmiedlova will play either Frenchwoman and seventh seed Alize Cornet or American teenager Sofia Kenin in tomorrow’s final.