Basilashvili Sprints Into Memphis Final

Nikoloz Basilashvili raced through the latter stages of his Memphis Open semi-final on Saturday and into his second ATP World Tour final, weathering a marathon opening set to advance past Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6(5), 6-1.

“The more matches you play, the more you get used to playing in these important moments,” said Basilashvili. “I have really good energy at the moment and am enjoying being on the court, so I hope to keep this level going.”

Awaiting Basilashvili in the final is the winner between Americans Ryan Harrison and Donald Young.

The Georgian player hasn’t lost a set this week and has been enjoying a hot streak on indoor hard courts, recording a semi-final finish last week in Sofia (l. Dimitrov).  He’s now one win from his first ATP World Tour title after finishing runner-up in his maiden final this past July in Kitzbuehel (l. Lorenzi). Currently at a career-high No. 67 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, a win on Sunday would put Basilashvili inside the Top 50.

Basilashvili and Kukushkin battled through a 78-minute opening set, with several games featuring multiple deuces. Little separated the two players through the tie-break, but some impressive scrambling from Basilashvili at 5/5 drew two errors from Kukushkin and gave the Georgian the early advantage. Losing the set appeared to flatten Kukushkin’s spirit, while Basilashvili raised his level further and began pinning his opponent well behind the baseline. The Georgian broke his opponent twice in the second set en route to prevailing in one hour and 46 minutes. 

DOUBLES

American Brian Baker and Croatian Nikola Mektic reached their first final of the year by defeating Australians Matthew Ebden/Bernard Tomic 7-6(1), 6-2. They will play the winner between second seeds Oliver Marach/Fabrice Martin and Americans Harrison/Steve Johnson.