ANDRIA, November 28, 2015
Third seed Ivan Dodig and the tournament’s number six Michael Berrer will compete in Sunday’s final of the € 42,500 Andria E Castel Del Monte ATP Challenger.
Dodig defeated Egor Gerasimov on Saturday, winning 6-4, 7-5. The world number 106 from Croatia won 79% of his first service points and converted three of his seven break point chances to advance to his third Challengr final of the season after one hour and 35 minutes. Dodig lifted the trophies in Brest and St. Remy earlier this year.
Berrer rallied back from a set down to overcome fourth seed Dudi Sela 3-6, 7-6, 6-3. The latter had to play two matches on Saturday and emerged victorious from his quarterfinals clash with Luca Vanni in the morning, winning in three sets. In the afternoon, Berrer fired 10 aces and saved four of the six break points he faced, converting three of his own to prevail in exactly two hours of play. The 35-year-old German will appear in his first final of the season, hoping to gain his first title since winning in Mouilleron-Le Captif in 2013.
Dodig and Berrer will meet for the fifth time on the tour with the Croat leading 3-1 in head to head records. The last encounter between the two took place in Doha in January 2015. Dodig won in straight sets.
Earlier the day, Marco Chiudinelli and Frank Moser captured the doubles title, winning 7-6, 7-5 against second seeds Carsten Ball and Dustin Brown. The match lasted one hour and 21 minutes.
Marco Chiudinelli wrote on twitter and posted the photo: “Nice way to finish the ’15 season, winning the doublestitle in Andria with my old time friend @FrankyMoser“