Qualifier Kovacevic stuns Rublev to reach first ATP final in Montpellier

Qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic reached the first ATP final of his career at the Montpellier Open, upsetting top seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-4 at the Sud de France Arena.

The American was in impressive form throughout the contest, moving a break up early on to get off to the perfect start.

Despite being pegged back by Rublev just a few games later, Kovacevic regained his composure well to strike again in the twelfth and final game of the set to clinch a one-set lead.

The second set was close, but the more experienced Russian was left to rue unconverted break points late in the set before Kovacevic delivered the sucker-punch to hold serve and break in the next game. In doing so, the American sealed the biggest win of his career in both importance and ranking as he reached his maiden ATP final.

Kovacevic, ranked No 102, will play Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, the second seed, next.

Ahead of his victory, the American defeated Belgian David Goffin, the No 6 seed (6-2, 3-6, 6-4), Italian Mattia Bellucci (7-5, 7-6 (5)) and Kazakh Alexander Bublik, the No 4 seed (6-3, 6-2).

Rublev, ranked No 10, beat American Christopher Eubanks (6-4, 6-3) and Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili (5-2 ret.) in the previous rounds of the Montpellier tournament.

Montpellier ATP 250, other semi-final result (Sud de France Arena, hard, EUR 673.360):

• Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Jesper De Jong: 6-4, 7-6 (4)