Bautista Agut Battles Into Winston-Salem Final

Roberto Bautista Agut won a roller-coaster match on Friday to move into the Winston-Salem Open final, his first on American soil. The No. 2 seeded Spaniard was a game away from an easy victory, but surrendered a 5-0 second-set lead against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki before finally prevailing 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-2 in over two hours. Bautista Agut improved to 3-0 in semi-final appearances this year and will look to claim his third ATP World Tour title in 2016, after winning in Auckland (d. Sock) and in Sofia (d. Troicki).

“I was a bit tight when trying to close out the match. It’s a normal thing, though. Everyone is a bit nervous when trying to win the match,” Bautista Agut said. “I was very disappointed to lose the second set after leading 5-0. But the good thing is that I was able to recover and set aside the bad feelings in the third set. I work hard on the mental side of my game and I think it is one of my strengths.

“The conditions were quite difficult as well. It was maybe one of the hottest days I’ve played a match on this year. We were both tired, something we often need to overcome in a three-set match.”

The hot weather and fast-playing hard courts suited Bautista Agut’s flat groundstrokes. From the first game, the 28 year old looked to attack Troicki’s forehand wing with pace and depth. He secured the lone break of the opening set in the 12th game with back-to-back forehand winners, then raced to a 5-0 lead in the second set. With his back against the wall, Troicki unleashed a barrage of unplayable groundstrokes. The Serbian swept the next five games before evening the contest in a one-sided tie-break.

In the deciding set, a calm and collected Bautista Agut rediscovered his rhythm. The Spaniard only dropped four points on serve and broke Troicki twice to secure his 38th win of the year (27-8 on hard courts).

“We were both struggling with the heat. He definitely started playing better in the third set. He came out with some good shots and I was flat,” Troicki said. “I’m disappointed in the loss but still proud of how I fought.”

“I’ve already played four great matches, so I am happy to be in another final. Happy as well that I took a wild card,” said Bautista Agut, who was a late addition to the tournament.

On Saturday, the No. 17 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings will attempt to join Novak Djokovic (7), Andy Murray (4), Dominic Thiem (4) and Stan Wawrinka (3) as the only players with three or more ATP World Tour titles in 2016. His final opponent will be fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. It is the third all-Spanish final of the year and the first in the U.S. since Fernando Verdasco beat Nicolas Almagro in Houston in 2014.

Carreno Busta bested first-time ATP World Tour semi-finalist John Millman 6-4, 7-6(5) in a match featuring relentless returning from both players. The Spaniard, who has yet to drop a set this week, broke serve four times and closed out the win in one hour and 45 minutes.

“It was a tough match. I started well with a break of serve and served out the first set,” Carreno Busta said. “In the second set, I made a few mistakes with my forehand and Millman started to play better. The key for me was to keep fighting all the time. I was down 5-3 but then was able to come back and win in the tie-break.”

The 25 year old sets a career best with his 29th win of the season and is a victory away from his maiden ATP World Tour title. He is into his third final of 2016, having lost to Pablo Cuevas in Sao Paulo and to Almagro in Estoril.

Doubles Final Set

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Henri Kontinen downed second seeds Mate Pavic and Michael Venus 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach the doubles final. Garcia-Lopez/Kontinen saved four break points and broke serve three times in the 77-minute win.

Their final opponents will be wild cards Andre Begemann and Leander Paes, who overcame a slow start to win 1-6, 7-6(5), 10/4 against third seeds Robert Lindstedt and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. Unusually, Lindstedt/Qureshi lost despite not facing break point during the match.