ATP Auckland: Cameron Norrie sets final clash against Tennys Sandgren
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This was their first meeting and the match lasted for an hour and 54 minutes and offered 20 break points, 10 on each side. Norrie defended his second serve in a more efficient way and he fought off eight out of 10 break points to keep the pressure on his rival whom he broke three times to move over the top and secure the place in his maiden ATP final.
A left-hander fired 17 aces and he landed 74% of the first serve in, outplaying his opponent in a tight third set to give the home crowd something to cheer about. Jan-Lennard repelled two break points in the sixth game, closing it with a service winner before he earned a chance on the return in the very next game, denied by a solid forehand attack from Norrie that has been getting him out of trouble during the entire week.
Serving at 5-6, Struff suffered a break to hand the opening set to his rival but he broke at the start of the second to move in front, coming from 40-15 down in the following game to cement his lead and open the gap. Norrie broke back in the fourth game but he fell behind again after losing serve at 3-3, saving five set points while serving in the ninth game.
He erased four of these with winners to extend the set but Struff claimed four points in a row in the following game to grab the set 6-4 and send the match into a decider. There, Struff sprayed a forehand error to give his serve away in game two and Norrie confirmed the break after saving a break point with a service winner in the game that followed, opening a 3-0 advantage and sailing through the remaining service games to secure the place in the final.
The Briton sealed the deal with a smash winner in the ninth game for his biggest result in a career so far at the familiar site where he feels pretty much at home. This is the second ATP final for Sandgren after Houston last April and he reached it in a strong style, dropping just nine points on serve and saving three break points in the opening game of the match to dominate in the rest of the encounter.
On the other hand, Philipp was nowhere near those numbers in his games, suffering three breaks from eight chances he gave to the American and fading from the court in set number two to push his rival into the title match.
Last year in Monte Carlo, Kohlschreiber lost just four games against Tennys and he made a strong start today as well, generating those three break points but failing to convert any after good serves from the rival that gave him a huge boost.
Philipp saved a break point in the fourth game and they stayed neck and neck until game 10 when Kohlschreiber had a 40-15 lead. Instead of bringing the game home, he lost four points in a row to hand the set to his opponent following a huge forehand error after 40 minutes of play.
Tennys never lost a point on serve in set number two and he broke in game four following a terrible volley error from the German who saved two break points next time he served, just to avoid an even bigger disaster, His defeat was inevitable, though, hitting a double fault (the second serve went miles off) in game eight to lose serve once again and allow Sandgren to move into the final match where he will play for the maiden ATP crown, just like Norrie.
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