Vukic crushes 34 winners en route to Atlanta Open final

Australian Aleksandar Vukic has set a date with Taylor Fritz in the Atlanta Open final, after serving his way to victory against Frenchman Ugo Humbert, the No 7 seed, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5 on Saturday night.

Once again, Vukic’s main weapon was his serve, crushing 17 aces as he won 76% of his first serve points. At one point the Australian was down a set and a mini break in the second set tiebreaker, before the 27-year-old powered back into the match with some sublime hitting.

“I was getting totally outplayed, he was destroying me,” Vukic said. “I kind of just relaxed and went for it. In that tiebreak, I was down 1-0 and a minibreak, I just went for the return, felt the momentum, felt the crowd, just kind of used it.”

The late night match certainly had a special atmosphere, with Vukic experiencing a stark contrast to the reception he received yesterday against home favourite Eubanks.

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“This is unbelievable. From yesterday to this, I don’t think I could have one this one without you,” Vukic declared to the crowd after his semi-final victory.

“Hopefully it’s like this tomorrow, because if it is, it’s going to be a good match.”

Vukic, ranked No 82, will face top seed Taylor Fritz next.

Ahead of his victory, the Australian won against American wildcard Ethan Quinn (7-6 (5), 6-3), Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, the No 4 seed (4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3)) and American Christopher Eubanks, the No 5 seed (6-4, 6-4).

Humbert, on the other hand, beat Constant Lestienne (4-6, 7-5, 7-5), South African qualifier Lloyd Harris (7-6 (6), 6-4) and Australian Alex De Minaur, the second seed (7-6 (4), 6-3) earlier in the tournament.