Belgrade Open: Shapovalov upsets Lehecka to reach final

Canadian qualifier Denis Shapovalov reached the final of the Belgrade Open by defeating No 4 seed and birthday boy Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 6-1 in 53 minutes on Friday.

The former top 10 player is through to his seventh ATP singles final, his fifth indoors and his first final since Vienna in October 2022. He will be gunning for his second career ATP title on Saturday (the first coming in October 2019).

Shapovalov, ranked No 78, will face the winner of the match between wildcard Laslo Djere and wildcard Hamad Medjedovic at the Belgrade Arena next.

In the previous rounds of the tournament, the Canadian won against Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics (6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-1), Portuguese Nuno Borges, the No 5 seed (6-2, 6-4) and Australian Christopher O’Connell (6-2, 6-2).

Lehecka, who celebrated his 23rd birthday today and is currently ranked No 31, beat Croat Marin Cilic (6-4, 7-6 (4)) and Slovak qualifier Lukas Klein (3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3) earlier in the week. This was only his third loss in his last 16 matches against players ranked outside the top 50.

Belgrade ATP 250, other semi-final (Belgrade Arena, hard, EUR 579,320):

• Laslo Djere vs. Hamad Medjedovic

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