Spaniard Daniel Merida converted 7 of 12 break-point opportunities and won his first career ATP title with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Damir Dzumhur in the final of the Playa Laguna Croatia Umag Open on Saturday.
Merida, 21, became the third-youngest champion in tournament history behind Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz (age 18 in 2021) and Italy’s Jannik Sinner (20 years, 10 months in 2022). Merida is the eighth first-time ATP champion this year.
Merida had a chance to win in straight sets but lost his service twice in three games as Dzumhur, a Bosnian, evened the match. But after losing two of three games at the outset of the third set, Merida won the final five games to seal it in one hour, 59 minutes.
Dzumhur, 34, was seeking his first ATP title since 2018. He has won three career crowns.
Nordea Open
No. 1 seed Andrey Rublev will face second-seeded Luciano Darderi in the final Sunday after both prevailed in three sets in their semifinal matches in Bastad, Sweden.
The Russian Rublev defeated No. 3 seed Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, while Italy’s Darderi held off unseeded Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay 6-4, 6-7 (11), 6-3. The 28-year-old Rublev, who won at Bastad in 2023, will go for his 18th ATP Tour title, while the 24-year-old Darderi — the event’s defending champion — will seek his sixth career victory.
Advancing to his 30th tour-level final, Rublev won 77.6% of his first-serve points (38 of 49) and posted 12 aces, including three in the final set. Tabilo saved 10 of 13 break points and three match points in a losing effort.
Darderi converted his 13th set point to take the first set, then let three match points slip away in a second-set tiebreak as Vallejo rallied to force a third set. Overall, Darderi saved seven of eight break points and converted three of five break point opportunities.
EFG Swiss Open Gstaad
No. 7 seed Raphael Collignon of Belgium and unseeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece will meet in Sunday’s final after each won their semifinal matches in three sets at Gstaad, Switzerland.
Collignon, heading to his first ATP Tour final, saved a match point before upending No. 6 seed Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Spain 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5, while Tsitsipas took down Alexander Shevchenko of Kazakhstan 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
The 24-year-old Collignon saved a match point on serve at 3-5 in the second set, then broke back en route to a tiebreaker victory. Down 2-5 in the decisive set, Collignon won five straight games to secure the win.
Back in an ATP Tour final for the first time in 16 months, Tsitsipas — the former World No. 3 and 12-time tour-level champion — displayed his dominant serve in the third set to pull away. In that set, he dropped just one of 12 first-serve points.
–Field Level Media
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