Bopanna-Ramkumar in final

Pune, February 5

Finland youngster Emil Ruusuvuori earned a shot at his maiden ATP World Tour title with a hard-fought win over Kamil Majchrzak while Joao Sousa edged out Elias Ymer after saving three matchpoints in high-quality semifinals at the Tata Open Maharashtra here today.

Kamil got himself to a position where he was serving for the second set to force a decider but 22-year-old Emil walked out with a 6-3 7-6(0) win after one hour and 46 minutes of play at the Balewadi Sports Complex.

In the other semifinal, world No. 137 Sousa wriggled out of a crunch situation against talented Ymer to win the marathon contest 5-7 7-6(4) 7-5 in three hours and 13 minutes. Sousa, 32, will now fight for his fourth singles title in his 11th final on the ATP Tour.

In the doubles event, the second-seeded Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan saved three matchpoints to beat Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 6-4 4-6 12-10 to storm into the final. —