DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Czech Jiri Vesely, who was Novak Djokovic’s favorite in the previous round, defeated Canadian Denis Shapovalov to secure his ticket to the final of the Dubai Tennis Tournament on Friday.
Qualifying player Veseli prevailed in three tied sets 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2) and 7-6 (3) after a match that lasted three hours and 12 minutes.
Shapovalov, sixth in line, was the service of the match at 5-4 in the third set when Vesely responded with a break and pushed the match to the ends. In the decisive tiebreak, the Czech pushed the Canadian to make three mistakes.
Veseli, effective in service with 19 aces, will cross swords in the final with the Russian Andrei Rublev. Rublev beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) in the second half.
Shapovalov made a total of 14 double faults for just seven aces and converted only two of his four break points.
It was the first confrontation between the two left-handers. The day before, Shapovalov had predicted an “aggressive” game and it happened.
Veseli caused the reversal of the tournament in the quarterfinals by throwing Djokovic. This defeat of the Serb means that he will lose his first place in the next update of the ATP ranking on Monday.
After his semifinal, Rublev made a bold statement, writing on the camera lens “No war, please”, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
More details will follow
