CLEVELAND/STARNBERG, March 20, 2021

The singles final of the 2021 Cleveland Open will be an all-US-American affair, as Jenson Brooksby will take on Bjorn Fratangelo in Saturday’s championship match at the Cleveland Racquet Club.

Brooksby fought back from a set down to overcome No. 3 seed Emilio Gomez from Ecuador in Friday’s semi-final. The 20-year-old Sacramento, California native withstood six aces and broke his opponent’s serve five times to prevail after two hours and 21 minutes. Brooksby is riding on a nine-match win streak after lifting his maiden trophy on the ATP Challenger Tour at the Potch Open in Potchefstroom, South Africa last month.

Frantangelo edges Kovacevic

Later in the afternoon, Fratangelo also had to go the distance to end the fine run of qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic from the United States. The 27-year-old from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania won 70 per cent of his first-service points and converted five of his 18 break-point chances to secure a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory in two hours and five minutes.

A truly fantastic SF sees @BjornFratangelo knock off Kovacevic 63 26 61 to advance to the @CLEChallenger final

Hard to feel anything but immense joy for Bjorn, who’s dealt with so many different injuries these past few seasons. First final for him since October 2018 pic.twitter.com/m93Bm03wMY

— Alex Gruskin (@GreatShotPod) March 20, 2021

Fratangelo will play his first final since October 2018 and is bidding for his fourth ATP Challenger crown following his triumphs in Launceston, Australia, as well as on home soil in Savannah 2016 and Fairfield 2018. Brooksby and Fratangelo will meet for the first time.

Four US-Americans will also appear in the doubles title match when No. 3 seeds Evan King and Hunter Reese will face No. 2 seeds Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson. Saturday’s Cleveland Open action will kick off at 1 pm local time.

We’re about to find out who our other singles finalist is—in the meantime, here’s the schedule for tomorrow. #CLEChallenger #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/MmwoJ2Wh0c

— Cleveland Open (@CLEChallenger) March 19, 2021