Dzumhur Beats Vesely For Antalya Final Spot

Damir Dzumhur advanced to his fourth ATP World Tour final (2-1) on Friday with victory at the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya.

The second seed from Bosnia and Herzegovina saved two set points in the second set to beat the Czech Republic’s Jiri Vesely 6-3, 7-6(1) in 80 minutes. It was his fourth straight win — at ATP World Tour and ATP Challenger Tour levels — over Vesely.

Dzumhur will next face a Frenchman in top seed Adrian Mannarino or fourth seed Gael Monfils. Dzumhur trails Mannarino 0-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, while he has not met Monfils.

“It’s the first time I have played two tournaments on grass prior to Wimbledon,” said Dzumhur. “So I have never given myself the chance to play well on grass. I did feel like I could play well, but I needed matches. I came here with some confidence and I feel my game is quite good for this surface. I played better and better from the second round on.”

The 26-year-old Dzumhur saved two set points at 4-5, 15/40 in the second set, prior to winning the first four points of the tie-break. Vesely volleyed into the net on match point, off a Dzumhur forehand down the line.

Dzumhur, who is two spots off his career-high of No. 28 in the ATP Rankings (first attained on 11 June this year), won two titles in 2017 at the St. Petersburg Open (d. Fognini) and the VTB Kremlin Cup (d. Berankis). The 26-year-old from Bosnia and Herzegovina also finished runner-up at the Winston-Salem Open (l. to Bautista Agut).

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