Djokovic eases through to Tel Aviv Open final, Rune to face Huesler in Sofia decider

The
Serb
broke
his
Russian
opponent
twice
as
he
cruised
to
the
opening
set,
and
though
Safiullin
took
the
21-time
grand
slam
champion
to
a
tie-break
in
the
second,
Djokovic’s
class
showed
as
he
won
the
tie-break
7-3
to
ensure
his
place
in
Sunday’s
decider.

It
was
far
from
plain
sailing
for
Djokovic,
who
conceded
the
tension
in
the
second
set
was
hard
to
handle.
Djokovic
said:
“I
think
it
was
a
very
competitive
match,
especially
in
the
second
set.

“I
must
say
I
was
quite
emotional
on
the
court
today
in
the
second
set,
there
was
a
lot
of
tension,
and
that
was
also
due
to
his
aggressive
style
of
tennis.
Big
serves,
and
when
he
has
time,
he’s
so
solid
from
the
forehand
and
backhand
corner.

“I
knew
that
I
had
to
stay
very
strong,
and
that
he
was
definitely
going
to
raise
his
level
in
the
second
set,
which
happened.
I
was
serving
for
the
match
and
played
a
couple
of
loose
points,
but
credit
to
him
for
fighting
back.
It
was
an
enjoyable
evening
on
the
court
for
sure.”

Marin
Cilic
secured
his
spot
as
Djokovic’s
final
opponent
with
a
comfortable
straight
sets
triumph
over
Constant
Lestienne.

The
Croatian
second
seed
served
14
aces
as
he
eased
to
victory
in
under
two
hours,
winning
11
out
of
his
12
first-serve
points
en
route
to
a
7-5
6-3
win.

Holger
Rune
is
into
the
Sofia
Open
final
after
Jannik
Sinner
was
forced
to
retire
through
injury
with
the
Dane
leading
5-7
6-4
5-2.

Sinner
won
the
opening
set
but
lost
the
second,
and
with
Rune
just
one
game
away
from
winning
the
match,
the
top
seed
chose
to
retire
with
ankle
pain,
putting
an
end
to
his
hopes
of
winning
three
straight
titles
in
Sofia.

Rune
will
face
Marc-Andrea
Huesler
in
the
final,
after
the
world
number
95
upset
fourth
seed
Lorenzo
Musetti.

The
first
set
went
to
a
tie-break
as
neither
could
find
a
break
of
serve,
though
Musetti
found
two
in
the
tie-break
to
help
him
to
a
5-1
lead.

However,
the
Italian
surrendered
the
next
six
points
as
Huesler
pulled
off
an
incredible
comeback
to
take
the
first
set.

The
second
set
was
another
tight
affair
as
both
held
serve
after
serve,
but
Huesler
finally
found
a
crucial
break
to
prevail
7-6
(7-5)
7-5.