Don’t call Pierre-Hugues Herbert a doubles specialist. This week, the Frenchman is finding his form on the singles court, surging into the Shenzhen Open final in dramatic fashion.

On Saturday, Herbert upset seventh seed Alex de Minaur 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(8), saving two match points in a gripping third-set tie-break. The 27-year-old moved into the championship after two hours and 34 minutes, improving to 3-1 in deciding tie-breaks this year.

It will be the second ATP World Tour final for Herbert, who previously finished runner-up to Kevin Anderson at the 2015 Winston-Salem Open. He will face Yoshihito Nishioka in Sunday’s title match.

“I’m really happy and proud of myself to be in the final,” said Herbert. “It was a really tough match today against Alex, who I played in Wimbledon and that was a big fight too. I’m happy to be through to my second ATP final. My plan is to rest and have a good night and be ready for tomorrow. It’s my dream to lift the trophy.

“Against Alex, you feel like you have to win the point four times. He has wheels and he’s running so fast. He almost got to the last one, where I thought he had no chance. It was an amazing match point and it’s one you remember for a long time.”

Herbert outdueled one of the ATP World Tour’s most determined warriors to reach the final. De Minaur refused to yield an inch from the baseline, but the Frenchman was up to the task. After conceding the opening set, the #NextGenATP Aussie seized the momentum in the second, keeping the rallies short and not allowing Herbert to navigate to the net.

Marathon man ?@p2hugz saves two match points en route to beating De Minaur 7-5 2-6 7-6(8). Into his 2nd career singles final.#shenzhenopen pic.twitter.com/ZkCrBR4mVk

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) September 29, 2018

And once again his dogged defence was on display in the decider, as De Minaur stormed back from an 0-3 deficit to force a tie-break. But Herbert would match his opponent from the baseline, saving match points at 6/5 and 7/6 as the drama boiled over on Center Court. A De Minaur running forehand clipped the tape, forcing a net-charging Herbert to put away an awkward volley. And he would deny the second match point with an overhead smash.

Herbert sealed the victory on a second match point of his own, firing his 42nd winner to book a spot in the final. A 13-time doubles champion at the tour-level, including three Grand Slam crowns and six ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, Herbert is seeking his maiden moment in singles. Earlier in the week, he earned his first Top 20 win of the year in stunning World No. 15 Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, before rallying from a set down to defeat Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Friday.

De Minaur, who entered the match with a 3-0 record in deciding tie-breaks on the ATP World Tour, was bidding to appear in his third final of the year. The Aussie teen remains in fourth place in the ATP Race To Milan and will hope to continue his push towards a Next Gen ATP Finals berth at next week’s stop in Tokyo.

We are guaranteed to have an 11th first-time winner this year, after Nishioka also prevailed in a deciding tie-break to reach the final. He edged Fernando Verdasco 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) in Saturday’s nightcap to move into his first ATP World Tour final.

First-Time Winners In 2018

The 23-year-old Japanese is not only bidding to become the latest first-time titlist, but also the sixth qualifier to emerge victorious at the tour-level in 2018. After storming through qualifying, he earned signature wins over an in-form Denis Kudla, Denis Shapovalov and Cameron Norrie before ousting Verdasco.

Nishioka is the feel-good story of the week on the ATP World Tour. This time last year, he was on the road to recovery after tearing his ACL at the Miami Open presented by Itau. Now, he is one win from lifting his first trophy and returning to the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings.

“I’m very excited for this moment,” said Nishioka. “I was not thinking I could reach the final when I was in qualifying. But this is very exciting for me, to be in my first final. I know there will be pressure tomorrow, but I will try to do my best.”

It has been five years since Herbert and Nishioka last met, with the Frenchman prevailing in the first round of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Yokohama in 2013.

Fabio Fognini moved one win from Italian history at the Chengdu Open, beating #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-3 on Saturday.

The World No. 13, winner of three tour-level crowns this season, booked his place in his fourth final of the season after one hour and 49 minutes, winning 61 per cent of second-serve return points en route to victory. If Fognini adds the Chengdu trophy to his titles in Sao Paulo, Bastad and Los Cabos, the 31-year-old will become the first Italian on record to win four tour-level titles in one season.

“I am happy because it was a great match,” said Fognini. “I returned really well and was moving better and better. I am happy to be in the final here in Chengdu.”

With his 40th tour-level win of the season (40-18), Fognini, improves to 4-3 in semi-finals this year. Fognini owns an 8-9 record in championship matches at tour-level, but has won each of his three final appearances this season.

“It is my best year so far. I am really happy that the first time I visit Chengdu, I am in my first final,” said Fognini.

Fritz was bidding to reach his second ATP World Tour final (also 2016 Memphis) as he bids to qualify for November’s Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. The 21-year-old owns 19 wins from 33 tour-level matches this season.

Top-seeded Fognini will face Bernard Tomic in Sunday’s final. The 25-year-old Australian defeated Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-4 to reach his first ATP World Tour final since 2016 Acapulco. Tomic fired 12 aces and saved all three break points he faced to overcome the Millennium Estoril Open champion after 75 minutes.

World No. 123 Tomic, who recently lifted an ATP Challenger Tour title in Mallorca, will aim to capture his first tour-level trophy since 2015 Bogota. Fognini owns a 2-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Tomic.

Did You Know?
Last week, Fognini ended a two-year doubles title drought in St. Petersburg. Fognini, on his team debut alongside countryman Matteo Berrettini, defeated defending champions Roman Jebavy and Matwe Middelkoop in the championship match.

Former World No. 1 Andy Murray has withdrawn from next week’s China Open due to an ankle injury. The 2016 champion, who reached the Shenzhen Open quarter-finals, will end his season after previously announcing his plans for the Beijing event to be his final tournament of the year.

The 31-year-old ends his 2018 campaign with a 7-5 record, following his long-awaited return to the ATP World Tour at the Fever-Tree Championships in June. Murray’s appearance at The Queen’s Club ended an 11-month absence, dating back to 2017 Wimbledon, due to a hip injury.

After undergoing hip surgery in January, Murray fell in three sets to Nick Kyrgios on his return to action at The Queen’s Club. An encouraging straight-sets win over former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka at the Nature Valley International followed, before three hard-fought wins earned Murray his first quarter-final appearance of the season at the Citi Open. Murray showcased all of his fighting qualities in the U.S. capital, battling past Mackenzie McDonald, countryman Kyle Edmund and Marius Copil.

In what would prove to be his final event of the season, Murray showed signs of his best form at the Shenzhen Open to defeat top seed and defending champion David Goffin in straight sets. In the quarter-finals, Fernando Verdasco overcame Murray once again (also US Open) to advance to the final four.

Murray will open his 2019 campaign at the Brisbane International. He is a two-time champion at the season-opening event (2012 & 2013).

Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah will make their Nitto ATP Finals debut this November at The O2. The Colombians clinched their place in the eight-player, eight-team field following the release of the draws for next week’s ATP World Tour 500 tournaments in Beijing and Tokyo.

Cabal and Farah are the second team to qualify for the 2018 tournament, joining Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, whom they faced in the Australian Open final earlier this season.

In addition to their first Grand Slam final, the Colombians also reached three other championship matches in 2018. They won their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and were runners-up at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires and Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Cabal, 32, and Farah, 31, first joined forces at the Futures level in 2004 and made their tour-level main draw debut in 2011 at Wimbledon. They have won 11 titles from 25 finals, highlighted by a season-high four titles in 2016. They served as alternates at the Nitto ATP Finals that year.

Top seeds Ben McLachlan of Japan and Brit Joe Salisbury, playing in their first tournament together, will play for the Shenzhen Open doubles title on Sunday.

McLachlan/Salisbury beat third seeds Roman Jebavy/Andres Molteni 6-4, 7-6(4) and will meet fourth seeds Robert Lindstedt/Rajeev Ram in the final.

Lindstedt/Ram defeated Max Mirnyi/Philipp Oswald 7-6(4), 6-3. McLachlan has celebrated one ATP World Tour title (2017 Tokyo), while Salisbury will go for his first title.

In Chengdu, top seeds Ivan Dodig/Mate Pavic advanced to the final with a 5-7, 6-4, 10-8 win against Santiago Gonzalez/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. Dodig/Pavic will meet Austin Krajicek/Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, who beat Guido Pella/Joao Sousa 7-5, 6-1 in Friday’s other semi-final.

Fernando Verdasco ended Andy Murray’s bid for a second Shenzhen Open crown on Friday. The Spanish veteran reached his first ATP World Tour hard-court semi-final for almost 12 months with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in one hour and 40 minutes.

Verdasco was solid on serve – dropping just five of his first-service points (27/32) and hitting 11 aces, including on match point – to beat Murray for just the third time in 16 FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings.

“Beating a player like Andy, it’s always a tough thing to do. You have to push yourself to the limit and you know that you have to play really, really good from the first point to the last point, because he’s always there, he’s always fighting… You really have to be focused the whole match,” Verdasco said.

The 34-year-old withstood two break points at 4-4, prior to breaking Murray’s serve in the next game. He opened up a 3-1 lead in the second set, and finished with 36 winners (14 off his forehand wing). Verdasco, who also beat Murray in the US Open second round, last reached a tour-level hard-court semi-final in October 2017 at the Intrum Stockholm Open (l. to Del Potro).

“First set I think I had quite a few chances. Didn’t take them. When he had his opportunities he played well,” Murray said. “In the second set, he deserved to win. He served well. He was very aggressive from the back of the court and didn’t make too many mistakes.”

Earlier in the day, Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka advanced to his second tour-level semi-final by beating Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 7-6(2), 6-2 in 90 minutes. Norrie lost just five of his first-service points, but won 11 of 28 points on his second serve.