Denis enters first ATP final

STOCKHOLM: Highly-rated Denis Shapovalov reached his first ATP final on Saturday when he swept past Japanese lucky loser Yuichi Sugita 7-5, 6-2 in the Stockholm semi-finals.

World number 34 Shapovalov will face Filip Krajinovic for the title after the Serb saw off Spanish fifth seed Pablo Carreno-Busta 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Canadian 20-year-old Shapovalov was playing in his fourth semi-final of 2019 and eighth of his young career and had too much firepower for Sugita, the world number 129. “I’ve played a lot of semis, so it’s really exciting to be into my first final,” said the left-hander who has often been on the verge of a breakthrough with three of his semi-final spots coming at the Masters level.

“I’ve had some bad luck, some tough matches in the semis. “But on the other side making the semi-finals is a good sign, so I knew sooner or later the win was going to come, so I’ve stayed pretty patient.”