ANTALYA, June 29, 2018
Adrian Mannarino and Damir Dzumhur will compete in Saturday’s singles final of the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya. The top seed emerged victorious from the all-French battle with Gael Monfils 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 at the Kaya Palazzo Belek Resort on Friday.
Mannarino, who finished runner-up to Yuichi Sugita last year, withstood 17 aces, breaking his opponent two times to prevail in two hours and one minute.
Monf down…😳@Gael_Monfils #AntalyaOpen pic.twitter.com/nPRBiwZzNZ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 29. Juni 2018
“It was tricky,” Mannarino said. “Even in the tight moments, I was staying very calm and trying to just play as smart as I could and it worked out. I’m really happy with the performance today.”
Earlier in the day, Dzumhur edged past Jiri Vesely from the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-6(1). The No. 2 seed from Bosnia and Herzegovina won 56 per cent of the total points played to seal victory in one hour and 20 minutes.
“It’s the first time I have played two tournaments on grass prior to Wimbledon,” said Dzumhur. “So I have never given myself the chance to play well on grass. I did feel like I could play well, but I needed matches. I came here with some confidence and I feel my game is quite good for this surface. I played better and better from the second round on.”
Later in the afternoon, Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil and Santiago Gonzalez from Mexico captured the doubles crown. The unseeded duo upset the tournament’s No. 3 team of Sander Arends and Matwe Middelkoop 7-5, 6-7(6), 10-8. The final lasted one hour and 35 minutes.
