Wawrinka Looks To Repeat In Geneva

Stan Wawrinka will attempt to retain his Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open title on Saturday when he faces German qualifier Mischa Zverev in the final. The Swiss star, who is tied 1-1 lifetime against Zverev in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, is aiming to lift the 16th tour-level trophy of his career.

Wawrinka improved to a 19-8 record on the season when he defeated Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 7-6(4) in one hour and 39 minutes on Friday. He is 6-5 in clay-court finals and his last crown came in September 2016 at the US Open (d. Djokovic).

“The crowd has been great this week,” said Wawrinka. “They are very loud and support me a lot when I need most. I’m happy to be in the final and I’m looking forward to it. Mischa Zverev is a very talented player. He prepared very well for the season and has been playing some great tennis this year. He’s had some great victories especially against [Andy] Murray in Melbourne. He’s a lefty and has a special style that we don’t see too often nowadays.”

Zverev, who will attempt to capture his first ATP World Tour title, will be contesting his first final appearance since September 2010 at the Moselle Open in Metz (d. Simon).

Earlier in the day, Zverev, a traditional serve-and-volleyer who has varied his game style throughout the week in Geneva, kept his nerve to knock out second seed Kei Nishikori 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

The 29-year-old German required two hours and 18 minutes to reach the second ATP World Tour final of his career. Six days ago his younger brother, Alexander Zverev, captured his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (d. Djokovic).

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Colombians Advance To Doubles Final

Second-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah will look to win their second Geneva doubles crown in three years on Saturday after they beat wild cards Johan Nikles and Tim Puetz 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals. Cabal and Farah, who beat Raven Klaasen and Yen-Hsun Lu for the 2015 title, have a 10-11 record in team finals (1-2 in 2017).

Later in the day, top seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau overcame Scott Lipsky and Leander Paes 6-3, 3-6, 10-3 in 80 minutes. They will now look to lift their 14th team crown (13-4 in finals).