British number two Cameron Norrie will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Lyon Open final on Sunday after brushing aside Karen Khachanov 6-1 6-1 in his second victory on a busy Saturday.
He started the day by resuming his rain-delayed quarter-final with Arthur Rinderknech, winning 6-3 3-6 6-3.
The Briton was soon back on court and, after breaking Russian Khachanov in the second game, cruised to victory.
Sunday will be Norrie’s second ATP Tour final in three weeks.
Greek second seed and world number five Tsitsipas beat Italian 19-year-old Lorenzo Musetti 4-6 6-3 6-0 in the other semi-final.
Norrie, who beat US Open champion Dominic Thiem in the last 16 in Lyon, has now won 22 matches this season, meaning he has already eclipsed his previous best tally of main-draw victories in a single year.
The 25-year-old has shown particularly fine form on clay in search of a maiden ATP tour title, and reached the Estoril Open final earlier in May where he was beaten by 33-year-old Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
“I had a tough loss in my last final so it’s nice I can get another opportunity so soon,” said Norrie.
“It’s going to be tough against Stefanos, he’s playing well, he’s in the zone as well, so it’s going to be an interesting final.”
Tsitsipas has had an even better clay-court season so far, winning the Monte Carlo Masters and reaching the final in Barcelona, where he had a championship before losing to Rafael Nadal.
Norrie is ranked 49th in the world but would be significantly higher if the coronavirus pandemic had not led to temporary changes to the system to protect players during a disrupted schedule.
With the French Open starting on 30 May, he will be aiming to continue his impressive clay-court form – having won 14 of his 16 matches on the surface this year – at Roland Garros.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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