The Gijn man gave up his serve for the first time as he went to serve for the opening set, but that didn’t stop him from taking the lead with 7-5. Round two was one of the most spectacular of the season, with long, intense, varied spikes. Both players accompanied each point won with forward and eat on and Evans escaped 4-1 through a break in game two. Carreo managed to recover that break and force a tiebreaker in which he had his first match point with a 6-5 lead, but Evans served hard and managed to call it off. English, driven by the Canadian publicmanaged to take the tiebreaker 9-7 and regain momentum in the duel.
Balance and tension were at their peak in the deciding set and both players kept their first two at bats, before Carreo landed the decisive blow in the match. obtained a break in the sixth game and took a 4-2 lead, which left an emotionally stricken Evans who couldn’t look up.
Carreo chained a convincing part-time 16-point three that earned him the ticket to the grand final with Hurkacz. The balance between the two is one on one, with Carreo triumphing last year in Cincinnati and Hurkacz winning in Metz, also last season.
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