Andrey Rublev might be in excellent form to start the 2017, but the young Russian will lose points in the ATP rankings after he lost to Peter Gojowczyk in the semi-finals of the Quimper Challenger. The young Russian failed to deal with a barrage of aces from Gojowczyk as the German eighth seed won 76 46 63.
Gojowczyk had raced into a five-one lead in the first set after breaking Rublev in his first two service games. The young Russian had developed a trend of fighting back this week though, after his stunning comeback against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round, and he retrieved both breaks before losing the tiebreak.
Gojowczyk again broke again early in the second, but Rublev roared back, breaking the German twice to take the set. The early stages of the the third set followed the exact pattern of the first and second sets, as Gojowczyk broke first, and held twice for a three-love lead. Again Rublev fought back to an on-serve position. He was broken again though, and this time all Gojowczyk needed to do was hold. The German did so, completing the match with twenty-two aces.
Gojowczyk will face top seed Adrian Mannarino in the final after the Frenchman defeated compatriot Quentin Halys in straight sets, 75 64. Halys had led the first set by four games to two, but immediately surrendered the break, Mannarino the broke again at five-all as Halys double-faulted on break point, and though he had a number of break points from deuce, Mannarino finally served the set out.
Mannarino struck first in the second, but Halys quickly pegged him back. Again Mannarino broke late in the set and this time Halys had no answer, with the top seed progressing to his second Challenger final of the year.
Final Preview: Mannarino is the top seed, and will face an in-form Gojowczyk in the final. Both won Challengers in the opening week of the season, in Noumea and Happy Valley respectively. I still favour Mannarino because he has successfully dealt with big servers in the form of Jerzy Janowicz and Quentin Halys, and will be familiar with Gojowczyk’s style. Gojowczyk struggled in particular on second serve against Rublev, suggesting that a more consistent baseline player may earn more success
