Bosnian Mirza Basic had never made a tour-level quarter-final prior to the 2017 VTB Kremlin Cup, where he made the semi-finals. After a strong week at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open in Bulgaria, the qualifier moved into his second semi-final. But this time, after stunning top seed Stan Wawrinka on Saturday 7-6(6), 6-4, Basic will play in his first ATP World Tour final. He is projected to earn a spot in the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time at 26 years old. "I think I played a very, very good match. I was serving very good, so I think this helped me a lot," Basic said. "It's a big success for me. My first final after I...
A LOOK BACK Jalisco Open (Guadalajara, Mexico): Mirza Basic of Bosnia & Herzegovina captured his first ATP Challenger Tour title since July 2015 (Recanati, Italy) by defeating #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4. The 25 year old weathered a difficult draw to prevail, taking out top seed Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic in the quarter-finals and fourth seed Jason Jung of Taipei in the semi-finals. The 17-year-old Shapovalov came into the final on a nine-match winning streak in Challengers, having won his maiden title last week on home soil in Drummondville. He also had a difficult path to the championship match, defeating good friend and fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the second-round and former Top 15 player Jerzy...
