Sonego plays ‘perfect match’ to reach Winston-Salem final against American teen Michelsen

Italian Lorenzo Sonego, the No 10 seed, beat Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 6-2 to reach the final of the Winston-Salem Open at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex on Friday.

Sonego, ranked No 58, will face Alex Michelsen, the No 11 seed, next. The American advanced when Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta retired during the second set of their semi-final on Friday.

Sonego leads the head-to-head between the two by a 1-0 margin after beating Michelsen in Cagliari on clay earlier this year.

I played my perfect match today and I’m really proud of myself.

Lorenzo Sonego

“I served really well today,” Sonego said after the win as quoted by the ATP Tour. “I improved my serve this year… I returned really well on second serves, I can play more free. I played my perfect match today and I’m really proud of myself.”

He becomes the sixth different player from Italy to reach an ATP singles final in 2024 (Jannik Sinner, Luciano Darderi, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti and Flavio Cobolli), a record for Italian tennis in the Open Era.

The Italian won against Swiss Dominic Stricker (6-4, 6-1), Chinese Juncheng Shang (walkover) and Russian Pavel Kotov, the No 15 seed (6-3, 7-5) ahead of his win today.

The three-time ATP titlist will be competing in his sixth ATP Tour-level final and his first in nearly two years (Metz in September 2022). He is looking to join the group of active players to have won titles on outdoor hardcuorts, indoor hardcourts, clay and grass.

In the previous rounds of the tournament, Goffin, ranked No 90, defeated Spaniard Jaume Munar (7-5, 4-6, 6-3), Italian Luciano Darderi, the No 5 seed (6-2, 6-4), Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, the No 12 seed (6-3, 6-3) and Australian Rinky Hijikata, the No 16 seed (6-1, 6-3).

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