Italy’s Matteo Berrettini defeated Hugo Gaston of France 7-5, 6-3 to win the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel, Austria, on Saturday.
The No. 50 player in the world prevailed in 81 minutes with eight aces and 25 winners. He also controlled return points, winning 27 of 61 (44 percent) while Gaston won just 16 of 55 (29 percent).
Gaston, who got past Facundo Diaz Acosta on Friday when the Argentine retired, committed 11 unforced errors and two double faults and came up empty (0 of 4) on break-point save attempts.
Berrettini got off to a strong start by overcoming a 5-4 deficit in the first set, winning the last three games to get the upper hand on Gaston.
Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag
Fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, ranked No. 37 in the ATP rankings, won a three-hour marathon against Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, the second seed, to win the championship 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in Umag, Croatia.
The two battled back and forth in the deciding set, with Cerundolo taking 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 leads with Musetti fighting back to equalize in each instance. Musetti broke serve to go ahead 5-4, but Cerundolo rallied to go back up 6-5. After Musetti again tied things up 6-6, Cerundolo took a 6-3 lead in the tiebreak, eventually taking the match 7-5.
Cerundolo overcame four double faults and a disadvantage on serve points to save 7 of 11 break points in dispatching No. 17 in the world.
Atlanta Open
No. 4 seed Jordan Thompson of Australia outlasted Chinese qualifier Juncheng Shang for a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory on Saturday in the semifinals in Atlanta.
Thompson collected 13 aces to Shang’s six but had fewer winners (30-27) and watched Shang save 9 of 12 break points. After Shang tied things at 3 in the third set, Thompson kicked it into high gear, winning the final three games of the match to punch his ticket to the final.
In Saturday’s other semifinal, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka also went the distance with Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, prevailing 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to set up the meeting with Thompson.
–Field Level Media
