Purcell faces two-time champ Fritz in Eastbourne final

pAustralian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/max-purcell/ph71/overview'Max Purcell/a reached his first ATP Tour final on Friday at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/eastbourne/741/overview'Rothesay International/a, where he ended the run of British wild card a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/billy-harris/hd68/overview'Billy Harris/a./p

pThe qualifier battled hard to earn a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win at the ATP 250 grass-court event in Eastbourne./p

p"I have a new coach this week and I feel everything is coming together this week," Purcell said. "It feels good. Qualifying last week in Halle gave me confidence, a couple of straight sets matches there. I felt that I was due to get a couple of wins."/p

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pIn Saturday's final Purcell will face two-time champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/taylor-fritz/fb98/overview'Taylor Fritz/a, who held firm in two tie-breaks to defeat another Aussie, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/aleksandar-vukic/v832/overview'Aleksandar Vukic/a 7-6(5), 7-6(4). Fritz has been dominant on serve all week, dropping just two points on first-serve against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/thiago-seyboth-wild/sx91/overview'Thiago Seyboth Wild/a in the opening round, four against Shang Juncheng in the quarter-finals and two against Vukic./p

p"I felt like I had a lot of chances to break and I just couldn't make it happen,rdquo; Fritz said. ldquo;Perhaps one or two I could have done better but for the majority he played very well, so credit to him. It doesn't feel good just scraping by in 'breakers but it gives me a lot of confidence that I am finding ways to win. /p

p"I'm playing fine. It's tough to judge yesterday and the first three-fourths of this match; in the wind it's never going to be pretty. I started to find a bit of rhythm in the end when the wind died down. At least I can say that I'm serving well and I am getting those chances to break. I just need to take them."/p

pFritz, who lifted the trophy in 2019 and 2022, looks to become the first three-time champion in tournament history. The World No. 13 improved to 30-12 on the season by defeating Vukic and advancing to his 14th tour-level final (7-6 record)./p

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"[Being a former champion] has been helping me all week. I love playing here. The tournament is extra special to me because this is where I got my first title... and hopefully I'll be back tomorrow to get number three." /p

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pEarlier in the day, Purcell saved both break points he faced in the third set and won 80 per cent (16/20) of his first-serve points according to Infosys ATP Stats to triumph after two hours and 15 minutes in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Harris./p

pThe 26-year-old, who was competing in just his second tour-level semi-final, is the fourth qualifier in tournament history to advance to the title match. Purcell came into Eastbourne on a four-match losing streak./p

pHarris was competing in his first ATP Tour semi-final, having reached the last eight at Queenrsquo;s last week. The 29-year-old is up 23 spots to No. 116 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, while Purcell climbs 26 places to No. 68./p

p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p