ATP Munich: In-form Christian Garin downs Marco Cecchinato to reach final
Ranked outside the top-200 a year ago, Christian Garin has worked hard to bring the necessary improvements to his game and become a contender for the place in the top-100, entering there after three straight titles at the end of the last season. With just ten ATP wins on his tally before 2019, Christian found the form in Sao Paulo where he advanced into the first ATP final, backed by another one in Houston that proved to be his lucky charm, beating Casper Ruud in the title match and lifting the first ATP trophy in a career. Ranked inside the top-50 for the first time, the Chilean played in the third round in Barcelona and we will watch him in the third ATP final this season in Munich after a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 victory over the 3rd seed Marco Cecchinato in 72 minutes.
In February, Cecchinato prevailed in the second round of Buenos Aires but Garin was the one who played on a higher level in the recent weeks, saving two match points against world no. 3 Alexander Zverev yesterday and shining again today to book the place in the title match. Serving at 73%, Garin delivered some steady numbers on both the first and second serve, fending off both break points he faced and scoring three breaks on the other hand to control the scoreboard and cross the finish line first. Steady as a rock from the baseline, Christian did everything right in the opening set, defending the initial shot nicely and scoring two breaks for a 6-2. Garin drew first blood in the third game when Cecchinato netted a backhand and opened a 5-2 gap following another fundamental error from the Italian in game seven, this time from the forehand wing.
Serving for the set, the youngster hit a service winner to clinch the opening part of the encounter, building the momentum before set number two where he was hoping for the same outcome. Unable to find his rhythm, Cecchinato suffered a break at the beginning of set number two and that proved to be the pivotal moment of the entire set, with no more breaks of serve in the remaining games. The 3rd seed saved a break point in the fifth game to avoid an even bigger deficit and he had a chance to pull the break back at 3-4, denied by a forehand winner from Garin before the rain started to fall, sending them off the court for an hour and a half.
Christian stayed composed and didn't require too much time to bring the match home once they returned, confirming the triumph with a smash winner in game ten and awaiting for Roberto Bautista Agut or Matteo Berrettini. The Spaniard and Italian will have to play the semi-final tomorrow at 11:00 and the winner of that one will face Garin four and a half hours later in the big final.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2IZIsmv
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