With his 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-1 semifinal win over British qualifier Cameron Norrie at the Gonet Geneva Open in Switzerland on Friday, Novak Djokovic moved one victory away from becoming the third ATP player to reach the century mark in tour-level titles.
The second-seeded Djokovic will face sixth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who had a much easier time against Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner, posting a 6-3, 6-4 victory in just over an hour. With a win on Saturday, Djokovic would join Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) as the only men in the Open Era with 100 tour-level titles.
Djokovic excelled on his first serve, winning 45 of 52 points (86.5 percent), having an 11-3 edge in aces and posting 34 winners to 23 for Norrie. The former World No. 1 from Serbia also saved two of three break points and converted four of nine break points in the two-hour, 15-minute victory.
Meanwhile, Hurkacz — who is 0-8 against Djokovic — won 29 of 33 points (87.9 percent) on his first serve and has yet to drop a set in the tournament. Hurkacz also thrived on second-serve opportunities, taking 11 of 14 points (78.6 percent) and benefited from Ofner committing 25 unforced errors.
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Third-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia picked up the 350th tour-level win of his career, sweeping sixth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-1, 6-4 to reach the final.
Rublev is the third man born in 1997 or later to hit that milestone, joining Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas. He is also the seventh player born since 1990 to achieve the feat. In the one-hour, 25-minute match, Rublev broke Auger-Aliassime’s service twice en route to an easy first-set win, then broke the Canadian at 4-4 in the second set before closing out the win.
In the final, Rublev will take on Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, who recovered from losing the first set to defeat Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. Cobolli committed 53 unforced errors to 34 for Etcheverry, but doubled his opponent (40-20) on winners in the two-hour, 49-minute match.
–Field Level Media
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