Roberto Carballes Baena is into his first-ever ATP World Tour final, battling back to defeat fellow qualifier Andrej Martin 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in just under two and a half hours at the Ecuador Open in Quito.

It was just the second tour-level semi-final of Carballes Baena’s career (2014 Casablanca), while Martin was looking to win his second semi-final in as many tries (2016 Umag). 

Carballes Baena, a quarter-finalist last year in Quito, shot out to an early 3-0 lead in the first set, before Martin’s heavy groundstrokes off both wings reeled him back in.

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The 24-year-old Spaniard managed to shift the tide of the match at the start of the second set, saving three break points from 0/40 in the first game. With the momentum now firmly in his favour and his forehand firing, Carballes Baena surged to a double-break lead in the decisive set, eventually prevailing over his Slovakian opposition after forcing an error into the net. 

Carballes Baena, who has won three ATP Challenger Tour titles out of seven finals, moves to a 7-2 lifetime record in Quito and gets set for the biggest match of his career on Sunday.

The World No. 107 will play No. 2 seed and compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.

Stan Wawrinka was keen to look at the positives after his semi-final loss to Bosnian qualifier Mirza Basic at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open.

At the conclusion of just the second tournament of his comeback after a knee injury that kept him out for six months, the 32-year-old maintains great perspective.

“This week I was trying to be positive, trying to fight, knowing that I am not playing my best tennis but still had a chance to win, to make a final,” Wawrinka said. “I am sad with the result today but there are a lot of positives to take from the week.”

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The 16-time tour-level champion is focussed on returning to the form that saw him finish in the Top 10 of the year-end ATP Rankings in each of the past five seasons, even if he acknowledges there is work to do.

“I knew that it would be difficult but I think that it was a positive to have three matches in a row, to win two matches,” Wawrinka said. “But it cost me more energy because I am not used to playing matches… in general, I am playing every day a little bit better, feeling something new but I still have a lot of work to do to be back to my top [level].”

Despite the straight-set loss in the semi-finals, Wawrinka was pleased with certain aspects of his game.

“There are a lot of things I am doing well, playing well, moving well,” expressed Wawrinka. “But again, it is a part of the process to play my more matches, to get confidence.”

While there was disappointment at missing out on a place in his 29th career final, the Swiss star took a philosophical approach to the loss.

“It was really positive to fight and win two matches,” explained Wawrinka. “To be in the semi-finals today, I would have loved to win one more match… but I need to take the positives for the week.”

The former World No. 3 is the fifth seed at next week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, where he will play wild card Tallon Griekspoor in the second round.

A three-time champion in southern France, Gasquet upset the top seed after one hour, 48 minutes. The 31-year-old will look to clinch his 15th tour-level title on Sunday, in his first final since losing to Alexander Zverev in Montpellier last season.

“I’m very happy to reach my sixth final here,” said Gasquet. “It’s quite amazing for me. I never expected that, to be in the final again. I played four big matches, especially today with one of the best players in the world.”

The opening set was decided by one break of serve, as Gasquet turned the tables on the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up in the seventh game, firing a forehand passing shot to move ahead before serving out the set to move to within a set of the final.

Despite getting broken three times to lose the second set, Gasquet bounced back with the home crowd cheering him on to secure the crucial break in the seventh game of the deciding set. He then broke again to close out the match, guaranteeing the French fans a sixth French champion in eight years in Montpellier.

Goffin’s search for a fifth tour-level crown continues. With a win over Gasquet, the World No. 7 would have advanced to his sixth ATP World Tour final since the start of last season.

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Aiming to win his first title since the 2016 European Open in Antwerp, Gasquet will meet compatriot Lucas Pouille in Sunday’s final, which will be the fourth all-French championship match in eight editions of the tournament.

Pouille moved into the final after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to retire from their semi-final with a left hamstring injury while leading 6-1, 5-5.

It is the fifth final for Pouille since the beginning of last season (3-1) and he seeks his fifth ATP World Tour title. Pouille leads Gasquet 3-1 in their FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series, with Gasquet’s only win coming en route to his second title in Montpellier three years ago.

Did You Know?
There has been a French champion or finalist at the Open Sud de France every year since its inception in 2010.

Romania’s Marius Copil reached the first tour-level final of his career at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open after beating qualifier Jozef Kovalik 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday.

“I was just thinking to do my best,” said Copil, who fell in the first five ATP World Tour quarter-finals of his career. “I was very focused, I was in the present and this helped me to make the match more clear.”

It took Copil six attempts to advance to his ATP World Tour first semi-final, which he did by defeating third seed Gilles Muller on Friday. But it only took the 27-year-old one opportunity to take it a step further, ousting an opponent in Kovalik who was also competing in his first semi-final. The Romanian needed just 76 minutes to move on to his maiden championship match. 

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“It’s something I was dreaming about since the first day I started playing tennis,” Copil said of reaching his maiden final. “Watching the guys play major finals and being with them in the locker room made me want to play finals… I hope that it’s going to go well tomorrow and that it won’t be the last one.”

Copil is projected to match his career-high ATP Ranking of No. 74 by virtue of reaching the final, and can soar further if he beats either top seed Stan Wawrinka or qualifier Mirza Basic on Sunday..

The 27-year-old dropped just one of 25 points behind his first serve in his victory. The Romanian constantly threatened his 25-year-old opponent’s serve as well, earning a total of six break points across six of Kovalik’s service games, converting on three of those opportunities.

Kovalik played more aggressively as the match wore on, but Copil clinched his spot in the final with a volley into the open court.

Dutchmen Continue Pursuit Of Second Title In 2018
Fourth seeds Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop defeated Scott Lipsky and Divij Sharan 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the final in Sofia. The pair is attempting to win its second ATP World Tour title of the season after triumphing at the Tata Open Maharashtra (d. Herbert/Simon).

The Dutchmen had not won a match since their title in Pune when they arrived in Bulgaria. They will face the second seeds, Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya, in the championship match on Sunday.

DID YOU KNOW?
Copil owns two wins against opponents inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings in his career, defeating World No. 13 Marin Cilic (2012 Beijing) and World No. 19 Gilles Simon (2014 Brisbane).

Upsets reigned again on Friday at the Ecuador Open, but a strong favourite managed to avoid the bug and emerged as the favourite heading into the final two days of the ATP World Tour 250 event.

Second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas beat Austria’s Gerald Melzer 6-2, 6-4 to reach his third semi-final in Quito and his first of the season. The 30-year-old Spaniard pounced on Melzer’s second serve, winning 70 per cent of those points (16/23).

Ramos-Vinolas will play in his first ATP World Tour semi-final since making the 2017 Monte-Carlo final (l. to Nadal). Ramos-Vinolas has fallen in his previous two Quito semi-finals, but he’s the only remaining player in Quito who has won an ATP World Tour title (2016 Bastad).

Ramos-Vinolas will next meet Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro, who denied Gael Monfils his his second semi-final of the season (Doha) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Monteiro, No. 118, is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final of the year.

On the other half of the draw, Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena eliminated eighth seed Nicolas Jarry of Chile 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(5) to become the first qualifier (since 2015) to make the Ecuador Open semi-finals. The 24-year-old Granada resident overcame 14 aces from Jarry and will meet another qualifier Andrej Martin in the semi-finals.

The 28-year-old Martin continued one of the best weeks of his career on Quito’s red clay. A day after celebrating his first Top 10 win against World No. 10 and top seed Pablo Carreno Busta, the Slovakian qualifier won his fourth match in a row, knocking out #NextGenATP Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-4. Both players had their chances: Martin saved eight of 11 break points, Moutet 10 of 15.

Carballes Baena (2014 Casablanca) and Martin (2016 Umag) will both be playing in their second ATP World Tour semi-final.

“I’m really happy I could manage to win in two sets and save energy for tomorrow,” Martin said. “I really like to play here in these conditions… If I play well I can beat really good guys. I’m really happy that I’ve proved again that I can make good results in the big tournaments, the ATP tournaments.”