Egor Gerasimov's reaction to reaching his first ATP final

Egor Gerasimov has reached his first ATP Tour final by beating Paolo Lorenzi, Nikola Milojevic, Soon-woo Kwoon, and James Duckworth. The 27-year-old has set a clash for the Tata Open Maharashtra trophy with one-time ATP titlist Jiri Vesely on Sunday 9.

“I’m really happy,” the Belarus said during his post-semifinal press conference. “First of all, I’m happy because of my game, I think I was playing pretty well and of course, it is my first ATP final, I think everyone is drinking about this, so I’m really happy.”

Gerasimov had never reached the final phase of the ATP-level tournament before, and he didn’t think it could happen at the Pune 250. 

“I was not expecting to be in the final, but I’m trying to do my best in every match, step by step,” he said, before talking about how he will handle the experience. “My plan for the final? Just give all of my energy for this. [Vesely] is a former top-40, he won and ATP title, he has a lot of experience, but I’m going to fight until the last point. I’m just trying not to think [about Vesely’s experience], because when you think about this, you get more stiff.”

Currently World No. 90 and 8th seed at the Tata Open, Gerasimov got past James Duckworth 7-6(2), 6-4 to reach the final.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2SvTS3H