A resurgent Max Purcell, who earned his place in the Eastbourne draw as a qualifier, will contest his first ATP Tour singles final.
Eastbourne, Great Britain , 29 June 2024 | Leigh Rogers
Eastbourne, Great Britain
Max Purcell has rediscovered top form at an ATP 250 grass-court tournament in Eastbourne this week and been rewarded with a major career milestone.
The 26-year-old from Sydney edged out British wildcard Billy Harris 6-4 4-6 6-4 in the semifinals today to advance to his first ATP Tour singles final.
This continues a stunning resurgence for Purcell, who had only won six tour-level matches for the season prior to this tournament.
“I feel everything is coming together,” the world No.94 said. “It feels good.
“Qualifying in Halle (last week) definitely gave me some confidence, I had a couple of straight-set matches there. I felt like I was due to get a couple more wins, I just didn’t know how many.”
Having recorded six singles wins already this week, the Aussie qualifier carries impressive momentum into a final showdown with world No.13 Taylor Fritz.
The top-seeded American ended the run of Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic in the semifinals, firing 15 aces and winning 96 per cent of first-serve points in a 7-6(5) 7-6(4) victory.
Earlier in the day, Matt Ebden and John Peers suffered a heartbreaking loss in the men’s doubles final.
The Aussie pair, who will team up at the Olympic Games next month, led 6-4 5-3 against Brit Neal Skupski and New Zealand’s Michael Venus. However, their fourth-seeded opponents fought back to record a 4-6 7-6(2) [11-9] victory.
World No.1 Ebden and world No.55 Peers had two championship points – one at 5-4 in the second set, then another at 9-8 in the match tiebreak.
Aussies in action – Eastbourne
RESULTS
Men’s singles, semifinals
[Q] Max Purcell (AUS) d [WC] Billy Harris (GBR) 6-4 4-6 6-4
[1] Taylor Fritz (USA) d [LL] Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 7-6(5) 7-6(4)
Men’s doubles, final
[4] Neal Skupski (GBR)/Michael Venus (NZL) d [3] Matt Ebden (AUS)/John Peers (AUS) 4-6 7-6(2) [11-9]
COMING UP
Men’s singles, final
[Q] Max Purcell (AUS) v [1] Taylor Fritz (USA)
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