APTOS, August 13, 2017
British qualifier Liam Broady came out to play and held his composure under pressure on Saturday against the last remaining US-American in the draw, #NextGenATP player Taylor Fritz to advance to the final of the $100,000 Nordic Naturals Challenger Presented by Santa Cruz County Bank.
They remained on serve in the first set, but Broady tested Fritz’s consistency running down most of his shots. In the end, it was enough to force Fritz to make errors during pivotal moments and give Broady the upper hand in the second set. Broady secured a 7-6, 6-3 win in one hour and 32 minutes and will go on to
play in his first Aptos Championship and first ATP Challenger final in over three years.
The 23-year-old will take on Alexander Bublik. The World No 125 from Kazakhstan, who turned pro in 2014, and is currently ranked 14th in the #NextGenATP competition, pushed through a tight two-set 7-6, 6-3 win over Australian Sam Groth.
Each of the two finalists has only dropped one set during main draw competition on their journey to the titel match. The pair will meet for the first time.
Doubles Final Set
In the semi-finals of the doubles competition, third seeds Jonathan Erlich from Israel and Briton Neal Skupski beat Belgian lucky losers Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore.
“We got the break in the second set and they got tight, anything can happen in a super tiebreak,” Skupski said. “We got an early lead in the super tiebreak. It’s my first time playing with Erlich and whoever we
play in the final, it will be a tough match.”
Skupski and Erlich go on to play Australian duo Jordan Thompson and Alex Bolt, who also came out on top in a third set tiebreak to upset No. 1 seed, Artem Sitak from New Zealand and partner Wesley Koolhof from the Netherlands.
RESULTS – AUGUST 12, 2017
Singles – Semifinals
[Q] L. Broady (GBR) d [WC] T. Fritz (USA) 76(3) 63
A. Bublik (KAZ) d S. Groth (AUS) 76(2) 63
Doubles – Semifinals
[4] A. Bolt (AUS) / J. Thompson (AUS) d [1] W. Koolhof (NED) / A. Sitak (NZL) 63 26 10-8
[3] J. Erlich (ISR) / N. Skupski (GBR) d [LL] R. Bemelmans (BEL) / J. De Loore (BEL) 36 64 12-10
