Agut to clash with Medvedev for Chennai Open trophy

Second seed and world number 14 Roberto Bautista Agut outclassed Benoit Paire in a lop-sided semifinal to set up the singles title clash of the ATP Chennai Open with young Daniil Medvedev, who rallied to reach his maiden ATP final on Saturday.

Agut served extremely well to register an easy 6-3, 6-3 win over Paire, who paid the price for his unending unforced errors in the second semi-final.

Agut will now take on Russia’s 20-year-old Medvedev for his fifth career title. Medvedev came from behind to beat seasoned Dudi Sela 4-6,  7-6(2), 6-2 in the first match of the day in two hours and six minutes.

The Spaniard had more control over his strokes as he lost only 13 points when he served. Out of those 14 points, four he lost only in one game.

After walking away with the opening set and leading 4-1 in the second he perhaps got complacent and lost his serve to hand Paire little opening for a comeback but recovered quickly to move into the final.

On the other hand, Medvedev downed Israel’s 31-year-old journeyman Sela after the latter put up a strong show.

The quality of tennis peaked in the second set, with both players lifting their games. Medvedev broke in the fourth game to jump into the lead 3-1.

In the eventual tie-breaker, Medvedev rode on his powerful serve to jump to 4-2 and annexed the next three points to win 7-2.