Tom Jomby of France took down his countryman, Dan Added in straight sets to reach the final of the Dayak Tennis Championships, where he will face Danylo Kalenichenko for the title.
Jomby, seeded fourth, defeated Added 6-2, 7-5 to reach the final in Abuja, his first final of the season.
Jomby had the finest of starts, breaking his 20-year-old opponent in the first game of the opening set to take the lead. Less than 24 minutes later, he had wrapped up the set. The second set started the same way as the first, with Jomby breaking Added in the first game and then consolidating with a hold to go 2-0 up.
Added, however, found his way back into the contest, earning a break of his own in the fourth game to draw level at 2-2. But the fourth seed would carve out the decisive break in the eleventh game for a 6-5 lead and moments later, held to claim victory after an hour and 10 minutes.
Jomby will face Danylo Kalenichenko in Sunday’s final after the Ukrainian defeated USA’s Peter Kobelt 7-6(9), 6-2 on Centre Court today.
The first set alone lasted for 71 minutes. Both players kept things with serve to drive the set into an extended, electric tiebreaker, which Kalenichenko took to hand Kobelt his first set loss of the tournament.
Danylo Kalenichenko reacts during his match against Peter Kobelt.
The second set, however, was quick. Kalenichenko found the breakthrough in the sixth game, breaking for a 4-2 lead, and again in the eight game to power to close out the contest and advance to the final.
Elsewhere, the French pair of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul clinched their second consecutive doubles title in Abuja, following a 6-4, 5-7, 10-6 victory over the duo of Dan Added and Michail Pervolarakis.
Doumbia (L) and Reboul strike a pose after their victory in the doubles final of the Dayak Championships at the National Tennis Centre in Abuja on Saturday.
Having claimed the Tombim Abuja Open doubles crown last week, coupled with today’s victory, the French pair have now won 6 doubles titles on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
