Lucas Pouille is a man on a mission in 2016 and the 22-year-old will look to add a first ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the Moselle Open.

Pouille is set to face top seed Dominic Thiem in the Metz final after dispatching 2014 champion David Goffin 7-6(6), 6-1 on Saturday. He punctuated the one-hour and 21-minute victory with an emphatic forehand pass at the net on his first match point. The third seed, who fired 32 winners, crashed the net often in claiming 12 of 14 points when coming forward.

Pouille enters his second ATP World Tour final in fine form following a quarter-final run at the US Open. Runner-up in Bucharest (l. to Verdasco) earlier this year, he is hoping to extend France’s dominance at the indoor hard-court event. A Frenchman has now reached the final in eight of the past nine years, claiming six of the past seven titles.

World No. 18 Pouille, who earned his sixth victory over a Top 15 opponent in beating Goffin, boosted his chances of qualifying for the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Currently at No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, he is looking to make his debut at The O2 in London.

“I had chances to go up two breaks and maybe win the first set 6-1 or 6-2, but he found a way to come back,” said Pouille. “I held strong in the tie-break, then started to really play freely in the second set. I’m feeling good physically on the court after my US Open run. Quicker than before.” 

Goffin, meanwhile, suffered his first defeat in Metz after reeling off seven straight victories in the French city. The Belgian had his chances to close out the first set, but was unable to take his lone set point at 6-5 in the tie-break. He remains in search of his first victory against Pouille, falling to 0-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

Pouille and Thiem will face off for the second time on Sunday, with the Frenchman claiming their lone encounter at last year’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

Pavic/Venus Reach Seventh Final Of Season
Mate Pavic and Michael Venus advanced to their seventh ATP World Tour final of the 2016 season, downing Colin Fleming and Scott Lipsky 7-6(4), 6-1 on Saturday in Metz. The Croatian and the Kiwi are looking to claim their third title on French indoor hard courts this year, having won in Montpellier and Marseille. They also notched titles in Auckland and ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Pavic and Venus will face Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos in Sunday’s final, in a rematch of the Gstaad title match.

Stan Wawrinka will try to win a career-best fifth ATP World Tour title of the season on Sunday when he faces #NextGen player Alexander Zverev in the St. Petersburg Open final. The top seed advanced to his fifth final of the year and 25^th of his career by beating Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(8), 6-2 in one hour and 51 minutes on Saturday.

The Swiss saved two set points in the first set before claiming the 18-point tie-break. He broke to start the second set and again at 4-2 to take his 10^th victory in a row. Wawrinka also improved to a perfect 8-0 in sets in St. Petersburg.

Both players fought for every big point in the semi-final. Wawrinka saved all three break points; Bautista Agut erased seven of nine faced.

Last season, Wawrinka also won four titles but never earned the chance to go for a fifth. He’ll arrive confident on Sunday. He’s 11-0 in his past 11 finals, dating back to his 2014 title in Chennai (d. Roger-Vasselin). The last time Wawrinka lost in a final was more than three years ago: ‘s-Hertogenbosch in June 2013 against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

Zverev, however, also hasn’t lost a set in St. Petersburg. The 6’6”, 19 year old will be going for his first title and will be playing in the third final of his season and career. The two will be meeting for the first time.

With the top four seeds in the semi-finals of an ATP World Tour event for the first time in 2016, a pair of enticing match-ups were on tap on Saturday at the Moselle Open.

Top seed Dominic Thiem kicked off proceedings in Metz with a dramatic rally to overcome two-time champion Gilles Simon 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. The Austrian found himself with his back against the wall with Simon serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but he would not be denied his spot in the final. Thiem broke back with a massive down-the-line forehand and secured another break at 6-5 to force a decider with a cross-court backhand winner.

Thiem continued to apply pressure on Simon’s serve in the third set and despite failing to break from 0/40 at 2-1, he would claim the decisive lead four games later when the Frenchman sent a backhand long. The World No. 10 fired 38 winners and took 16 of 25 net points to prevail after two hours and 18 minutes. He is now a staggering 21-1 in deciding sets this year.

“I expected a very hard match,” said Thiem. “We always have long rallies. If he played one more good game at 5-4, the match is finished.

“It’s a dream to play in six finals. I never expected it. It’s always something really special.” 

Thiem, who is No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, continued his push to qualify for the season finale for the first time, as he advances to his sixth ATP World Tour final of the season. Having already won on the clay of Buenos Aires and Nice, outdoor hard courts of Acapulco and grass of Stuttgart, he is seeking his first title on indoor hard this week. The Austrian awaits home hope Lucas Pouille on Sunday.

Simon, a two-time champion (2010, ’13) in Metz, had won 14 of his past 15 matches in the French city entering Saturday. He was appearing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final of the season.

Marcos Baghdatis attended the draw ceremony for the inaugural Chengdu Open on Saturday. The historic Chinese city, capital of Sichuan province, will host an ATP World Tour event for the first time. The state-of-the-art venue in Chengdu boasts a centre court capacity of 6000, two additional show courts with 2000 seats each, and a total of 20 hard courts and 12 indoor courts. Main draw action at the ATP World Tour 250 event will kick off on Monday.

“[Chengdu] is a great city and I am happy to be here,” Baghdatis said. “The environment is very beautiful here, the facilities are great and I am excited to get my tournament underway.”

The luck of the draw did Baghdatis no favours, as the Cypriot will face Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in his opening match. Carreno Busta, No. 39 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is just three spots below Baghdatis and recently won his maiden ATP World Tour title on the hard courts of Winston-Salem.

“He’s a very tough opponent to play against in the first round,” Baghdatis said. “He won a title not too long ago so he will be confident.”

The top seeds for the first-year event are Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov and Feliciano Lopez. All four players will receive first-round byes.

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Alexander Zverev will play for his first ATP World Tour title on Sunday after gaining his first win over Top 10 player Tomas Berdych on Saturday at the St. Petersburg Open. Zverev, a member of the ATP Next Generation, dismissed Berdych 6-4, 6-4 in their semi-final contest at Sibur Arena.

The 19-year-old German saved all four break points and landed 66 per cent of his first serves to advance to his third ATP World Tour final of the season and of his career. He has yet to capture a title yet, though, falling in three sets to Dominic Thiem in Nice and to Florian Mayer in Halle.

“I just needed to serve well in the first place, and I did. Then I had to play aggressively,” Zverev said. “Berdych is always trying to dictate the point, and I had to take it away from him. It worked.”

In St. Petersburg, Zverev, the 2015 ATP Star Of Tomorrow presented by Emirates, will try to become the first ATP World Tour teenage winner since 19-year-old Marin Cilic won New Haven in 2008. Zverev will face top seed Stan Wawrinka for the first time. The Swiss prevailed against fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(8), 6-2.

“He is in good shape,” Zverev said of Wawrinka. “We’ll see.”

Perhaps Zverev will break his final losing streak on Sunday. Before Saturday, the Hamburg native had been 0-4 against Berdych in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, which included two losses on indoor hard courts (Stockholm, 2015; Marseille, 2016). The 31-year-old Czech had also prevailed against Zverev during a five-set Davis Cup match earlier this season and at Wimbledon.

But Zverev, No. 27 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, just three spots below his career high, maintained his strong play in St. Petersburg this week even against World No. 9 Berdych. When the Czech right-hander sailed a forehand long on the second match point, Zverev improved to a perfect 8-0 in sets this week.

See how Zverev compares to the game’s best on the ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS.

Second seed David Goffin continued his bid for a second title at the Moselle Open after beating Nicolas Mahut on Friday. The Belgian World No. 14 needed just over two hours to top the home hope 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 and reach the semi-finals, where he will face another Frenchman, Lucas Pouille.

Goffin, the 2014 champion at this ATP World Tour 250 tournament, fired 10 aces and capitalised on four of his seven break point chances in his victory as he improved his record in Metz to 7-0.

“Nicolas really went for it from beginning to end, so it was not an easy match,” said Goffin. “I only played one bad game in the match but it really cost me. I found my rhythm in the third set. It felt good to get things under control again and finish the match well.” 

Earlier, 22-year-old Pouille defeated compatriot Julien Benneteau 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3. The World No. 18, currently at a career-high in the Emirates ATP Rankings, saved six of the seven break points he faced to advance in two hours and 20 minutes. Pouille was playing in his sixth quarter-final of 2016 and continued his bid for a first ATP World Tour title.

“It was a really high-quality match,” said Pouille. “His ranking really doesn’t reflect his level. I’m happy with how I played and how I stayed strong physically.”

It will be the third meeting between Pouille and Goffin. The Frenchman leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0.

Top seed Stan Wawrinka remained perfect against Viktor Troicki, winning 7-5, 6-2 against the Serbian in the quarter-finals of the St. Petersburg Open on Friday. Wawrinka broke on the final point of the opening set, then swept the last four games of the match to win in 64 minutes.

The No. 3 player in the Emirates ATP Race To London, who is already assured of a berth at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, played with confidence. He landed 79 per cent of first serves and saved both break points faced to improve to 6-0 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Troicki.

Wawrinka will play Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the final. The Swiss has won his past 11 finals, most recently against Novak Djokovic at the US Open.

Bautista Agut overcame a slow start to advance 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 against Joao Sousa. The No. 4 seed dropped serve twice in losing the opening set, but held easily the rest of the way to down the Portuguese in one hour and 40 minutes. All three previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings between the two baseliners have gone the distance. Bautista Agut has now won the past two matches.

Begemann/Paes Into Doubles Final

Andre Begemann and Leander Paes moved into the doubles final after downing Russian wild cards Mikhail Elgin and Alexander Kudryavtsev 6-3, 7-6(5). They will face top seeds Dominic Inglot and Henri Kontinen or Konstantin Kravchuk and Andrey Kuznetsov.