Copil Reaches Maiden Tour-Level Final

Romania’s Marius Copil reached the first tour-level final of his career at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open after beating qualifier Jozef Kovalik 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday.

“I was just thinking to do my best,” said Copil, who fell in the first five ATP World Tour quarter-finals of his career. “I was very focused, I was in the present and this helped me to make the match more clear.”

It took Copil six attempts to advance to his ATP World Tour first semi-final, which he did by defeating third seed Gilles Muller on Friday. But it only took the 27-year-old one opportunity to take it a step further, ousting an opponent in Kovalik who was also competing in his first semi-final. The Romanian needed just 76 minutes to move on to his maiden championship match. 

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“It’s something I was dreaming about since the first day I started playing tennis,” Copil said of reaching his maiden final. “Watching the guys play major finals and being with them in the locker room made me want to play finals… I hope that it’s going to go well tomorrow and that it won’t be the last one.”

Copil is projected to match his career-high ATP Ranking of No. 74 by virtue of reaching the final, and can soar further if he beats either top seed Stan Wawrinka or qualifier Mirza Basic on Sunday..

The 27-year-old dropped just one of 25 points behind his first serve in his victory. The Romanian constantly threatened his 25-year-old opponent’s serve as well, earning a total of six break points across six of Kovalik’s service games, converting on three of those opportunities.

Kovalik played more aggressively as the match wore on, but Copil clinched his spot in the final with a volley into the open court.

Dutchmen Continue Pursuit Of Second Title In 2018
Fourth seeds Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop defeated Scott Lipsky and Divij Sharan 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the final in Sofia. The pair is attempting to win its second ATP World Tour title of the season after triumphing at the Tata Open Maharashtra (d. Herbert/Simon).

The Dutchmen had not won a match since their title in Pune when they arrived in Bulgaria. They will face the second seeds, Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya, in the championship match on Sunday.

DID YOU KNOW?
Copil owns two wins against opponents inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings in his career, defeating World No. 13 Marin Cilic (2012 Beijing) and World No. 19 Gilles Simon (2014 Brisbane).