Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas returns in the semifinal against Chile's Cristian Garin at the ATP Tennis European Open in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020 (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)
The Associated Press
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his impressive tune-up for the French Open by beating clay-court specialist Christian Garin in the Hamburg Open semifinals on Saturday to set up a final against Andrey Rublev.
The sixth-ranked Greek hit 12 aces on his way to winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. That denied Garin his third clay final of the year and ended the Chilean's 5-0 unbeaten record in tour semis.
Tsitsipas' run to the Hamburg final has seen him recover from his third-round exit at the U.S. Open and a first-round elimination in Rome last week in his first clay tournament of the year.
The man standing between Tsitsipas and his second title of 2020 is Andrey Rublev after the Russian beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-2 in the first semifinal.
Rublev overcame Ruud, who has the most clay-court wins on the ATP Tour this year with 15.
Rublev advanced to his third career clay final and seventh overall. Now 24-6 in tour matches this season, he equaled his achievement of reaching the final in Hamburg last year when he lost in three sets to Nikoloz Basilashvili.
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Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas returns in the semifinal against Chile's Cristian Garin at the ATP Tennis European Open in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020 (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)
The Associated Press
Andrej Rubljow of Russia returns in the semifinal against Casper Ruud of Norway at the ATP Tennis European Open in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020 The Russian beat the Norwegian Ruud 6-4, 6-2 in the first semi-final of the 1.2 million Euro sand court event. (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)
The Associated Press
Casper Ruud of Norway reacts in the semifinal against Andrej Rubljow of Russia at the ATP Tennis European Open in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020 The Russian beat the Norwegian Ruud 6-4, 6-2 in the first semi-final of the 1.2 million Euro sand court event. (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)
The Associated Press
Chile's Cristian Garin returns in the semifinal against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas at the ATP Tennis European Open in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020 (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)
The Associated Press