Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships: Action from semi-finals

Czech Vesely and Russian Rublev book places in the final as Shapovalov and Hurkacz exit

Last updated: February 26, 2022 | 00:00

Matthew Smith and Photos by Virendra Saklani/Gulf News

2 MIN READ

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Czech qualifier and world No. 123 Jiri Vesely reached the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships ATP final on Friday by seeing off Denis Shapovalov in three tiebreak sets

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A day after he stunned world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Dubai, he also accounted for the sixth seed Shapovalov

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Vesely won 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3) in more than three hours to become the lowest-ranked finalist in the tournament’s 30-year history

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Shapovalov had chances to win the match after winning the first set

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He even broke Vesely's serve late in the third to serve for the match, but he was broken straight back before Vesely got over the line

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On Saturday, Vesely will face Russia’s Andrey Rublev for the title

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The Russian second seed defeated Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5)

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In another match that went the distance, Hurkacz came up short in the decisive tiebreak

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Rublev is looking for back-to-back titles, having flown straight to Dubai from Marseille after winning the ATP title in France

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