Pouille to meet Bautista Agut in Dubai final
Second seed Lucas Pouille outlasted Serbia's Filip Krajinovic 6-3 6-7(4) 7-6(5) at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday to reach his third ATP World Tour final in four events.
By : migrator
Update: 2018-03-02 23:42 GMT
Dubai
World number 15 Pouille, who won the Montpellier title last month and reached the Marseille final last week, prevailed in two hours and 19 minutes to give himself a shot at entering the top 10 for the first time in his career.
Standing in the 24-year-old Frenchman's way is Roberto Bautista Agut, who cruised past wildcard Malek Jaziri 6-3 6-4 to end the Tunisian's fairytale run in the tournament.
"Playing to reach the top 10 for the first time, it's something great," Pouille said.
"If I play like this every week of the year... if I'm focused and mentally as strong as I am now, I'm sure one week or another I'll be in the top 10."
After taking the first set with ease, Pouille ran into trouble at 5-4 in the second as a determined Krajinovic fought back to drag the contest into a decider.
After a short rain delay, Pouille clinched victory in a third-set tiebreak.
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