In difficult blustery conditions in the Estadio Millennium in Estoril, Pablo Carreno Busta and Nico Almagro secured their place in the finals. Carreno Busta defeated Benoit Paire 6-3 6-3, while Almagro defeated the second seed and last year’s finalist Nick Kyrgios 6-3 7-5.
After 15 minutes of the first semi final, it was Frenchman Benoit Paire who appeared by far the more likely finalist. He led 3-0, having broken Carreno Busta twice, in the first game with three forehand winners and in the third game with powerful ground strokes off both wings with a signature drop shot thrown in. However, as early as the second game, the wind got up in the stadium lifting the clay off the top surface and repeatedly preventing the players from serving. The conditions changed the momentum of the match. Paire was broken in the fourth game and, having failed to convert break points on Carreno Busta’s serve in the next game, for a second time in the sixth game. By the time Carreno Busta broke once more in the eighth game, he had won 5 games in a row largely as the beneficiary of the Frenchman’s unforced errors. He served out the set, winning on his third set point.
The second set continued in the same vein. Paire was broken immediately, failing with two drop shots. In truth, given that Paire committed 29 unforced errors on his groundstrokes (compared to 7 for Carreno Busta), it was difficult to know quite how well Carreno Busta was playing. It was clear that he was serving well – he saved break point in the second game of the first set – and there was evidence of court craft by his use of the drop shot and ghosting into the net. Two double faults from Paire brought a double break in the fifth game which presaged a run of five breaks to finish the match, Carreno Busta coming through 6-3 6-3.
The match produced the point of the week in the early stages of the second set: two “tweeners” and quite bit else besides.
Carreno Busta acknowledged the difficult conditions after the match. “The conditions were very complicated. I am very happy to be in another final. I will do everything tomorrow to win my first title.”
Serve dominated the early stages of the second semi final even as windy conditions remained. Both Almagro and Kyrgios started strongly, with the Spaniard delivering a brilliant backhand down the line winner to seal the first game. However, in the sixth game, it was Almagro who took advantage of a backhand unforced error from Kyrgios to move to break point. Again, the Spaniard hit a signature backhand to win the game and a 4-2 lead.
In a high quality seventh game however, Kyrgios immediately broke back through a brace of forehand winners, and also taking advantage of an Almagro double fault. He couldn’t sustain this same form committing thee unforced errors in the next game which Almagro took to move 5-3 ahead, taking the set a game letter.
In the second set, it appeared as if Almagro was targeting Kyrgios’s backhand, although Almagro would later say that he was only trying to hit the ball as deep as possible in the difficult conditions. The key breakthrough seemed to belong to Kyrgios who in the sixth game brought Almagro into the net with a short return of serve and passed him to set up break point. He converted with a forehand winner to move ahead 4-2. However, four unforced errors in the subsequent game saw Almagro break back and then level at 4-4. Kyrgios’s serve would save him in the next game but he would eventually yield in the 11th game. One break point was saved with line-to-line forehands, but a second would end with Kyrgios unable to dig out a volley at his feet. Almagro served out the match to seal victory in 74 minutes.
It was a strong serving performance from the Spaniard who served 7 aces and won 84% of his first serves and an impressive 57% of his second serves. He converted 4 of 7 break points while being broken just twice himself. Almagro paid tribute to his opponent after the match.
“Today was a really really tough match because I played against one of the most important players on the tour,” Almagro said after the match. “He’s the person of the future for sure. The conditions were tough to play on the court. But I am very happy because I try to put intensity on my game. I tried to play with focus. I’m very happy for that.”
“Today I didn’t play with tactics. I tried to put all the balls inside the court as deeps as I can. That’s it and fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, and stay focused. To play against Nick is really difficult because he played really aggressively, he has a lot of talent and he could do whatever he wants with the ball. Today was tough because the wind is difficult. I am very happy.”
Tomorrow will be the first meeting between Carreno Busta and Almagro. It will also be the first all-Spanish final since David Ferrer defeated Feliciano Lopez in Kuala Lumpur in 2015.