Lucas Pouille soared to his biggest career crown at the Erste Bank Open 500, dominating countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday. The Frenchman notched his first ATP World Tour 500-level trophy, earning a fourth title in his young career. With the victory, he became the first player in 2017 to win on all surfaces, adding a hard-court crown in Vienna to triumphs on the clay of Budapest and grass of Stuttgart. Despite the loss, Tsonga stays in the hunt for one of the two remaining berths in the Emirates ATP Race To London. Bidding to make his fourth appearance at the season finale, he is just 295 points behind Pablo Carreno Busta for the eighth and final spot. All...
Lucas Pouille is doing his best to enter the 2018 season with a surge of momentum at his back. A first ATP World Tour 500 final appearance will go a long way. Pouille rallied past Kyle Edmund 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-3 in Saturday's first semi-final at the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna. The World No. 25 reached his sixth ATP World Tour final and fourth of the year. He will look to add a hard-court crown to victories on the clay of Budapest and grass of Stuttgart, when he faces either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Philipp Kohlschreiber on Sunday. It marks the second straight year a Frenchman will appear in the Vienna final, following Tsonga's runner-up finish to Andy Murray in...
Convention says that a tournament’s seeded players should make their way through the draw. Not in Vienna. Lucas Pouille leads three unseeded players into the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open 500 after ousting compatriot Richard Gasquet, 7-6(5), 6-1, in one hour, 31 minutes. It was Pouille’s third victory in a row against his fellow Frenchman, extending his lead in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry to 3-1. The 23-year-old is into his sixth ATP World Tour semi-final of the season (3-2) as he seeks his third title of the year (Budapest, Stuttgart). Pouille also defeated Gasquet in Marseille this February, 7-5, 6-3, to advance to the final. While the elder Frenchman, Gasquet, used his guile and consistency in the...