Adelaide International, Australia
Korda Reaches Adelaide Final; Monfils Advances to Auckland Final; Mertens Makes Hobart Final
No. 2 seed Sebastian Korda reached the finals of the Adelaide International on Friday, defeating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 7-6(4).
Needing one hour and 19 minutes to advance, Korda hit 13 aces, won 84 percent of his first serve points and broke serve on one occasion.
Improving to 1-1 against Kecmanovic in lifetime meetings, Korda will next face No. 5 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in Saturday’s final.
The Canadian pulled through with a great victory, defeating top seed Tommy Paul 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 45 minutes.
Auger-Aliassime owns a 2-1 head-to-lead over Korda and will be aiming to win his sixth career title.
Korda, who is currently ranked No. 22 in the world, will be playing in his ninth final. He has two career titles to his credit.
On the women’s side, top seed Jessica Pegula will take on fellow American Madison Keys in Saturday’s final.
Pegula defeated Yulia Putintseva 7-6(4), 6-3 and Keys advanced to the final when her opponent Liudmila Samsonova retired in the third set trailing 5-7, 7-5, 3-0.
Keys had 13 aces during the uncompleted match.
Keys and Pegula have played on two occasions with the pair splitting both encounters.
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ASB Classic—Auckland, New Zealand
Dynamic Frenchman Gael Monfils reached to his 35th career final on Friday in Auckland, New Zealand, defeating Nishesh Basavareddy 7-6(5), 6-4.
In a match that lasted one hour and 46 minutes, Monfils struck seven aces and broke serve on one occasion. The 38-year-old will take on Zizou Bergs in Saturday’s final.
Bergs ousted Portugese star Nuno Borges 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 later in the day.
Bergs has never played in a Tour level final. He is currently ranked No. 66 in the world and has never played Monfils on Tour.
Basavareddy, who defeated defending champion Alejandro Tabilo earlier in the event, will face Novak Djokovic in the first round of the Australian Open next week.
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Hobart International—Hobart, Australia
Saturday’s final at the Hobart International in Australia will feature No. 2 seed Elise Mertens taking on unseeded American Mccartney Kessler.
First up, Mertens needed one hour and 19 minutes to defeat Australian hopeful Maya Joint 6-2, 6-3.
Mertens hit two aces, won 78 percent of her first serve points and broke serve on five occasions. Mertens will be aiming to win her ninth career title on Saturday.
Next up, Kessler surprised the Hobart crowd by defeating No. 6 seed Elina Avanesyan 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in just over two hours.
Kessler does own one career title and has had a career high of No. 63 in the world. She is currently ranked No. 67.
Avanesyan, who is ranked No. 44 in the world, was looking to win the first title of her career this week.
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