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By Tennis Now | Saturday, October 31, 2020

 
Lorenzo Sonego

Lucky loser Lorenzo Sonego continues his inspired Vienna run dismissing Dan Evans 6-3, 6-4 to set up a Vienna final vs. fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev.

Photo credit: Erste Bank Open Facebook

The day after Lorenzo Sonego shocked world No. 1 Novak Djokovic he was in no mood for Halloween hangover.

Lucky loser Sonego unleashed his monster forehand continuing his spirited Vienna run dismissing Dan Evans 6-3, 6-4 to surge into the first ATP 500-level final of his career.

More: Sonego Shocks Djokovic

The inspired Italian surrended just six points on first serve and converted three of four break points to power into his first Tour-level final since he won the Antalya, Turkey title on grass in June of 2019.




Sonego is the first lucky loser to reach the Vienna final since Andreas Haider-Maurer fell to Jurgen Melzer in the 2010 all-Austrian final.

Playing the same level of dynamic tennis he showed dispatching Djokovic 6-2, 6-1 yesterday, Sonego won 15 of 20 second-serve points and won five of his 10 service games at love. 

Sonego, who lost to Aljaz Bedene in his final round of qualifying, has not dropped a set in four main-draw tournament wins setting up a Vienna final vs. fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev.




The red-hot Rublev was up 6-4, 4-1 when Kevin Anderson retired from today's first semifinal. Rublev, who improved to 5-0 in semifinals this season, is playing for his ATP-best fifth title of the season as he closes in on securing a spot in next month's ATP Finals at the O2 Arena in London.

Bursting out of the blocks quickly, Sonego stormed through 12 of the first 14 points builing a 3-0 lead. The lanky Italian served out the opening set at love.

Tennis Express

Hitting heavy forehands to Evans' one-handed backhand, Sonego robbed the Briton of reaction time. A big backhand return provoked an errant backhand down line wide as the Italian broke to start the second set.

Evans took treatment for an apparent left shoulder issue. When play resumed Sonego spit up his first double fault for face break point. Evans lofted a lob to break back.

Slick net skills Evans showed in the quarterfinals helped him defuse Grigor Dimitrov. Today, Sonego roped a backhand pass for break point and broke for 2-1 when Evans missed a diagonal forehand.

The pace of Sonego’s shot was too much for Evans’ slice backhand to tolerate. The Briton smashed his Wilson racquet during one changeover. Sonego shattered his defense following up a diagonal forehand with a clean forehand strike down the line holding for 4-2.




An inside-out forehand brought the lucky loser to triple match point.

When Evans netted a final forehand return, Sonego screamed in triumph closing a masterful 80-minute performance to reach the biggest final of his career dancing with delight to the roar of the Vienna crowd.

 

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