Malek Jaziri’s historic run at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow came to an end after the Tunisian slumped to a 6-3, 6-1 defeat at the hands of No2 seed Andreas Seppi in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The 28-year-old, expected to rise to No89 in the world rankings on Monday, became the first Tunisian to reach an ATP Tour semi-final, but was unable to match Seppi’s prowess and aggression.
The pair traded breaks early in the first set but 28-year-old Seppi went one better and earned another break to edge ahead 5-3 and sealed the first set after yet another break.
The second set saw Jaziri struggle more on serve and Seppi quickly went 5-0 up before the Tunisian managed to finally get on the board after saving a couple of match points.
But the world No112 was only delaying the inevitable as Seppi completed his rout on his fourth match point to move into the final against Thomaz Bellucci, who overcame Ivo Karlovic 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4.
“It is the end of the season, but I am going to give it all in my last three events – Moscow, Basel and Paris,” said Seppi, who will be playing his fourth ATP final of the year on Sunday.
“It has been the best year in my career so far and I feel great playing indoors.”
Earlier on Centre Court, No3 seed Caroline Wozniacki fought off a tough challenge from Sofia Arvidsson to down the Swede 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 and book a final spot against top-seeded Sam Stosur.
Stosur also had to dig deep in her semi-final against Serbian No4 seed Ana Ivanovic, who started strong before she fell to the Australian 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 after suffering from a hip problem in the deciding set.
“In the second set I started serving a lot better and played much more accurate on return. I improved my movement and started playing more offensively and with that I managed to reverse and win the match,” said Stosur.
Stosur takes a 3-2 head-to-head record into her final match with Wozniacki, who is looking to add a second title of the year to the one she recently won in Seoul.
“I was really fighting out there. It’s tough on this surface to finish off the point,” said Wozniacki.
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