No. 3 seed Fabio Fognini is set to play in the St. Petersburg Open final. The third-seeded player narrowly beat top seed Roberto Bautista Agut 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5). Fognini, 30, now has six wins and two losses against the Spaniard. 2017 Gstaad champion Fognini beat Bautista Agut in the semi-finals on his way to clinching the title. It was their second match in St. Petersburg and the second win for the 30-year-old.
Both players were tied at 2-2 when Bautista Agut won four games in a row to seal the first set. Bautista Agut looked to be cruising to victory, as he was up by 3-1 in the second set.
However, Fognini quickly broke back the Spaniard, before the set went into a tie-break. Bautista Agut had match points at 6-5 and 7-6 in the tie-break -- but couldn't convert -- as Fognini forced a decider.
Fognini had a break point in the second game of the third set, which he didn't convert. As no breaks of serve were seen, another tie-break was the case. Bautista Agut was again inching closer towards the win as he had a 5-3 lead in the tie-break. The resilient Fognini fought back -- won four points in a row -- and sealed the win.
Fognini won the match though he broke Bautista Agut only once during the match. On the other side, the Spaniard broke Fognini three times on Saturday. Also, Bautista Agut won a total of 109 points, while Fognini took the remaining 104 points played.
The match came to an end after two hours and 27 minutes of action.
Dzumhur through as well
World No. 55 Damir Dzumhur has also reached the St. Petersburg Open final. The Bosnian tennis player beat world No. 54 Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 7-5. It was the first-ever meeting between the two at the ATP level. They previously met at a Challenger event a year ago.
Back then, Dzumhur retired the match during the third set. Both players held on to their serves until the seventh game of the first set.
Dzumhur converted his first break point to open up a 4-3 lead. One more break of serve two games later handed the Bosnian a 1-0 set lead.
Struff bounced back in style after losing the opener.
Struf broke Dzumhur in the first game but then lost the next three games. However, Struff managed to break back the Bosnian immediately, tying it all at 3-3. No breaks of serve were seen until the 12th game when Dzumhur broke Struff to seal the win.
The key in Dzumhur's win over Struff was his break point conversion. The Bosnian converted 5-of-7 of his break point chances. On the other side, the German broke the Bosnian twice on Saturday. The match came to an end after an hour and 19 minutes of play.
Dzumhur seeking a breakthrough
It is all set for a St. Petersburg Open final between Fognini and Dzumhur. The two will be meeting for the third time in their careers this Sunday. Previously, Fognini beat Dzumhur twice on the clay of Umag in 2015 and 2016. Fognini is hoping to win his sixth ATP title, while Dzumhur is eyeing his maiden crown. It remains to be seen can Dzumhur pull off an upset and beat Fognini.
