Spaniard Pedro Martinez knocked off No. 1 seed Casper Ruud of Norway on Saturday to reach the final at the Millennium Estoril Open in Portugal.
Martinez outlasted defending champion Ruud 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that took three hours and seven minutes to complete. Ruud came back from being down 5-1 in the deciding set and even overcame three match points in an epic 16-minute game at 5-2, but the 77th-ranked Martinez — who had never beaten a top player — ultimately took the match.
Martinez will face No. 2 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who reached his 10th ATP final after beating Chile’s Cristian Garin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
In a match that took just under two hours, Hurkacz critically broke Garin’s serve twice in the final set on his way to victory.
Grand Prix Hassan II
Matteo Berrettini recorded six aces while outlasting Mariano Navone of Argentina 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 to reach the title match of the Grand Prix Hassan II at Marrakech, Morocco.
Berrettini required two hours, 42 minutes to reach his first final since Naples in October 2022. The Italian will face defending champion Roberto Carballes Baena, who posted a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Pavel Kotov of Russia in his semifinal match.
Baena has won nine straight matches in Marrakech. The Spaniard saved six of seven break points and converted four of six on Kotov’s service.
Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship
Top-seeded American Ben Shelton rallied to prevent an upset, picking up a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 4 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina in the semifinals in Houston.
Shelton won 48 of 57 first-serve points for the match. He trailed early in the second set but won three straight games to go up 4-2, then held off Etcheverry the rest of the way.
Sunday’s final will feature a pair of Americans, as No. 3 seed Frances Tiafoe downed Luciano Darderi of Italy 6-2, 7-6 (2) in Saturday’s other semifinal.
–Field Level Media
