Marton Fucsovics produced a dominant performance to defeat Borna Coric 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday and reach the biggest final of his career at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
The Hungarian converted all five break points he created to charge through to the final in 86 minutes. Across six matches from qualifying, Fucsovics has dropped just one set en route to his first ATP 500 final. In the first round, the World No. 59 survived a final-set tie-break to beat Reilly Opelka 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 7-6(4).
“I am very happy. [This is the] first ATP 500 final in my career,” Fucsovics said in an on-court interview. “[I came from] qualifying. All the week, I was playing very solid and serving well. I am enjoying this week.”
Fucsovics entered the match with a 0-3 ATP Head2Head record against Coric, but he won 75 per cent of first-serve points (21/28) and took control of rallies behind the Croat’s second serve (13/18) to reach his third ATP Tour final (1-1).
“When I went on the court, I just tried to play relaxed, enjoy the match and make the best out of it,” said Fucsovics.
Fucsovics is only the second qualifier in tournament history to reach the championship match. The 29-year-old has followed in the footsteps of Nicolas Escude, who beat Roger Federer in a final-set tie-break to earn the 2001 title.
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Fucsovics will meet red-hot Russian Andrey Rublev in the final. Rublev claimed his 19th consecutive win at ATP 500-level earlier in the day with a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory against second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. Fucsovics and Rublev are tied at 1-1 in their ATP Head2Head series.
“Andrey Rublev is playing unbelievable nowadays, especially in the ATP 500s. He didn’t lose a match for a long time,” said Fucsovics. “It is going to be an interesting final. I will try to play my best and enjoy this moment.”
Coric was attempting to reach his third ATP 500 final (1-1). The 2018 Halle champion advanced to the semi-finals in Rotterdam without dropping a set, following straight-sets wins against Botic Van de Zandschulp, Dusan Lajovic and Kei Nishikori.
