(Dubai) The Czech Jiří Veselý, who fell favorite Novak Djokovic in the previous round, beat the Canadian Denis Shapovalov and won his ticket to the final of the Dubai tennis tournament on Friday.

Veselý, a qualifying player, prevailed in three tight sets of 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2) and 7-6 (3) after a match that lasted 3 hours and 12 minutes.

Sixth-seeded Shapovalov served for the match at 5-4 in the third set when Veselý replied with a break, and he pushed the game to the limit. In the decisive tiebreaker, the Czech pushed the Canadian to make three errors.

Veselý, efficient in serving with 19 aces, will cross swords with Russian Andrey Rublev in the final. Rublev defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) in the other semifinal.

Shapovalov totaled 14 double faults for just seven aces and converted just two of his four break points.

It was the first meeting between the two lefties. The day before, Shapovalov had predicted an “aggressive” game, and that’s what happened.

Veselý caused the upset of the tournament in the quarter-finals by knocking down Novak Djokovic. This defeat of the Serb means that he will lose his number one spot when the next ATP rankings update is released on Monday.

“No war, please”, pleads Rublev

After advancing to the final, Rublev wrote “No war, please” on a camera lens.

Russian troops concentrated their efforts near Ukraine’s capital Kiev on Friday on the second day of the invasion.

Rublev was not asked about this international dispute during his post-match on-court interview.

Thursday at the tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, his compatriot Daniil Medvedev said it had not been easy for him to see his country invade Ukraine.

“As a tennis player, I want to promote peace all over the world,” said the man who will become world number one on Monday.

“We play in many countries. It’s not easy to hear what’s going on. I am always for peace. »

The Canadian Press, with information from The Associated Press