Canadian Frank Dancevic gained his first berth in an ATP final, upsetting Andy Roddick in straight sets at the $575,000 Indianapolis Tennis Championships.
Roddick failed in his attempt to win the tournament for a third time as Dancevic won the semifinal encounter 6-4, 7-6 (7-1). The 22-year-old native from Niagara Falls became the first Canadian citizen to reach an ATP final since Greg Rusedski won the title in Seoul on April 30, 1995.
Roddick, the 2003 and ‘04 champion at this event on the tennis schedule, lost to fellow American James Blake in last year’s final.
Dancevic’s opponent in the final will be third-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov, who had to play two matches on Saturday due to persistent rain a day earlier. First, Tursunov beat Japanese qualifier Kei Nishikori, 6-1, 6-4, and then he topped American Sam Querrey, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in the semifinals.
Blake had his quarterfinal match pushed back from Friday to Saturday due to rain, and the second seed lost to Querrey, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4).
Tursunov beat Dancevic in their only other meeting, which happened to be this June at the Artois Championships in London. That victory came in straight sets.
Tursunov has one career title, which was last year in Mumbai.
Sunday’s winner will take home $73,000.
