SCHWIEBERDINGEN, January 14, 2017
Evgeny Karlovskiy and Yaroslau Shyla will compete in Sunday’s final of the $15,000 Südwestbank Tennis Grand Prix, held at the Tennis King Academy in Schwieberdingen.
The 22-year-old Russian fought past top seed Petr Michnev, winning three tie-breaks. Michnev had taken an opening set without any break points 7-4 before Karlovsky capitalized on the first break point opportunity of the match in the sixth game of the second, followed by three more service losses. The set went into the decider again and the Moscow native eventually pushed the encounter the distance. Karlovskiy converted his first match point at 7-5 to secure victory after two hours and 14 minutes.
“It was a really tough match,” Karlovskiy told Tennis TourTalk after the thrilling encounter. “I had my chances in the tie-break of the first set but I couldn’t use it. Petr served for the match in the second and it was pretty close in the following two sets.”
Asked about his goals for the season, the World No. 503 simply stated: “I just want to give my best every year and try to stay healthy.”
Karlovskiy will take on Yaraslau Shyla in the singles final. The fourth seed from Belarus emerged victorious from the encounter with his fellow countryman and tournament’s number two Dzmitry Zhyrmont, winning 7-5, 6-4. Shyla didn’t face a break point, converting two of his own to advance in one hour and 21 minutes. Shyla and Karlovsky will meet for the third time with the Belarusian leading 2-0 in head-to-head records.
Swedes Claim Doubles Title
Later the day, the two singles title contenders teamed up for the doubles final but lost to the all-Swedish-combination of Isak Arvidsson and Patrik Rosenholm 6-7, 6-3, 8-10. The Swedes closed the encounter after one hour and 20 minutes.
“It’s a very fast surface here and only a few points decided the match,” Arvidsson told. “We played well during the important moments, which was the key to success.
“I will focus more on the doubles this year, trying to get into the top 100,” the World No. 185 in the doubles ranking added. Arvidsson and Rosenholm will next play at the inaugural ATP Challenger in Koblenz.
