Hamburg, May 23 (IANS) Tommy Paul made an impressive comeback to secure his spot in the Hamburg Open final after beating Australia’s Alex de Minaur 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in Friday’s semifinal in Germany.

The sixth-seeded American seemed on track for a straight-sets loss after losing the first set and going down 3-0 in the second. However, Paul changed the course of the match by winning nine straight games, taking control of the final set. This win marked the 28-year-old’s 10th ATP Tour-level final and his second on clay this season, following his title win in Houston last month.

Even though De Minaur saved 13 out of 17 break points he faced, he struggled with his second serve, winning only 44 percent of those points as Paul gradually wore him down from the baseline.

Paul will now compete against qualifier Ignacio Buse in the final. The 22-year-old continued his strong performance with a convincing 6-1, 6-4 win over lucky loser Aleksandar Kovacevic in just 64 minutes. Buse is the first Peruvian man to reach an ATP Tour-level final since Luis Horna in 2007. Although he made only 42 percent of his first serves, Buse was effective on serve overall, winning 89 percent of his service points.

Meanwhile, at the Geneva Open in Switzerland, American youngster Learner Tien defeated Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(5) to reach the first clay-court final of his career.

Tien seemed poised for an easy win after jumping to a 6-1 lead in the deciding set tiebreak, but nerves set in as he missed four match points before finally securing victory on his fifth chance. The 20-year-old became the youngest Geneva finalist since Sergi Bruguera in 1990 and the first American man to reach a final there since Aaron Krickstein in 1984.

In Saturday’s final, Tien will face Argentina’s Mariano Navone, who upset three-time Geneva champion Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-2 in the other semifinal. Navone hit 27 winners and made fewer unforced errors than Ruud in a strong all-around performance. The winner of the final will earn the second ATP Tour-level title of their career.

–IANS

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