Lorenzo Sonego confident he can stun Andrey Rublev in Vienna final

World No. 42 Lorenzo Sonego said he was really happy with his performance against Dan Evans in the Vienna semifinal as the Italian handed the Briton a straight-set defeat 6-3 6-4 to set up a final clash against No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev. 

Sonego, who lost in the Vienna qualifying final round but entered the tournament as a lucky loser, was coming off the biggest win of his career as on Friday he beat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

"I'm really happy," Sonego said in his on-court interview, per the ATP website. "After yesterday it was not easy playing against Evans because he has a good talent. He has a good backhand and it was not easy. But today I won and I am so happy."

Sonego, who claimed his maiden ATP title at the Antalya Open last year, described his Vienna run as "amazing."

"It's amazing. I started this tournament [by losing] in the qualies. It's not easy after losing my [qualifying] match to win four matches and now I got to the final," Sonego said. "I don't have any expectations. I go with confidence and I [will] try to do my best tomorrow."

Sonego not lacking confidence ahead of Rublev clash 

World No. 8 Rublev is enjoying an outstanding season as he will be aiming to win the record fifth title of the season on Sunday. 

Rublev enters the Vienna final as the favorite but Sonego is confident that he can beat the Russian.

"This week I've improved my tennis for sure. I improved my return, my serve," Sonego said. "I worked so hard and now I have the confidence to win this match and the experience. I needed to [get] some experience."

On Friday, Sonego shocked the entire tennis World after his 6-2 6-1 win over Djokovic in the Vienna quarterfinal.

"For sure it's the best victory of my life. Novak is the best in the world. Today I played so, so good," Sonego said in his on-court interview, per the ATP website. "It's unbelievable. It's amazing." 

17-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic was straight honest after getting demolished by Sonego.

"He just blew me off the court, that's all," Djokovic said after the match.

"He was better in every segment of the game... it was a pretty bad match from my side, but amazing from his side. He definitely deserved this result."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3mFYqlB