FLORENCE, September 28, 2019

Pedro Sousa and Marco Trungelliti will face each other in Sunday’s singles final of the Firenze Tennis Cup Trofeo Toscana Aeroporti. Sousa knocked out Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, top seed of the €46,600 ATP Challenger clay-court event, winning 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday afternoon.

The No. 7 seed from Portugal saved 11 of the 13 break points he faced and capitalized on four of his own six chances to advance in one hour and 27 minutes.

Earlier in the day, Marco Trungelliti fought past Mohamed Safwat of Egypt 3-6, 6-3, 6-0. The 29-year-old from Argentina, who finished runner-up to Pablo Andujar in Florence last year, won 53 per cent of the total points played to prevail after two hours and eight minutes.

“I played more hours in this tournament than in the whole year,” Trungelliti summarized his week in Tuscany with a smile. “I was a bit tired after yesterday’s battle but I worked hard and I started to feel better in the second set and put more variety in my shots.”

Trungelliti and Sousa will meet for the seventh time with the South American leading 5-1 in their head-to-head records. Trungelliti is seeking his second ATP Challenger career title following his maiden triumph in Barletta, Italy last year. Sousa could lift his eighth trophy, his third of the season.

Later on Saturday, Luca Margaroli of Switzerland and Canadian Adil Shamasdin took the doubles title. The No. 3 -seeds battled past the all-Spanish duo of Gerard Granollers and Pedro Martinez 7-5, 6-7(6), 14-12. The encounter lasted one hour and 54 minutes.