Casper Ruud and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard both saved match points on Saturday en route to respective ATP 250 titles in Geneva and Lyon.
Ruud’s escape came in the Gonet Geneva Open semifinals against Flavio Cobolli, when the seventh-ranked Norwegian was serving at 4-5, 30-40 in the third set. Ruud, who also fell behind 3-0 in the third, battled back for a 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) victory.
Rain had postponed play on Friday, which is why Ruud had to play both the semis and the final on the same day. After getting past Cobolli, the No. 2 seed beat Tomas Machac 7-5, 6-3 for the title. Machac had upset Novak Djokovic in the semis prior to Friday’s rain.
At the Open Parc, Mpetshi Perricard fought off a championship point at 6-7 in the third-set tiebreaker against Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The 20-year-old Frenchman, who had failed to serve out the match at 6-5 in the decider, ended up triumphing 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(7).
It was just the third ATP tournament ever for Mpetshi Perricard, who was outside the top 100 (117th) and is now up to No. 66 in the rankings.
Etcheverry fell to 0-3 lifetime in ATP finals–all at the 250 level on clay.
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wow, GMP