Seppi Flattens Jaziri, Reaches Moscow Final

© RIA Novosti . Alexey Kudenko / Go to the mediabankAndreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi - Sputnik International
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Italy's Andreas Seppi reached his fourth final of the season Saturday in Moscow with a crushing victory against Tunisia's Malek Jaziri.

(UPDATES with Seppi, Jaziri quotes, background)

Italy's Andreas Seppi reached his fourth final of the season Saturday in Moscow with a crushing victory against Tunisia's Malek Jaziri.

Seppi won eight games in a row as he achieved a 6-3, 6-1 victory over world No. 112 Jaziri, who became the first player from his country to play in an ATP semifinal.

Seppi said he had raised his game following Friday's quarterfinal against eighth seed Tatsuma Ito, which the Italian won 6-2, 6-1.

"I managed the match very well, I waited for the right moment always, didn't play like maybe yesterday, too aggressive," Seppi said.

"I think I played some good intelligent tennis today."

Brazilian fourth seed Thomaz Bellucci and big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic face off later Saturday for the right to play Seppi in Sunday's final.

Seppi proved too much for Jaziri after he broke the Tunisian at 3-3 and embarked on an eight-game winning streak that took him to the verge of victory at 5-0 in the second set.

Jaziri said he could not match Seppi's fitness levels after the Italian started to pull ahead.

"It was a lot of rallies and I was feeling a bit tired," he said. "I had a lot of opportunities today."

Tennis is a fledgling sport in football-mad Tunisia, and Jaziri said he hoped to inspire his compatriots after the country's first ATP semifinal.

"It's very good for me and for Tunisia," he said.

"Tennis in Tunisia is improving every day and I'm very glad that the Tunisian fans are following me and giving me more confidence to work harder and go higher in the rankings."

Seppi, the world No. 25 and Italian No. 1 is bidding for his third career title and second of the year after winning in Belgrade in May and Eastbourne last year.

Seppi was a quarterfinalist last year in his only previous appearance in Moscow, losing to German qualifier Michael Berrer.

Unseeded Jaziri was in his first Kremlin Cup and aiming to rescue his season after a recent slump saw him drop out of the top 100 from a career-high 69th spot in July.

 

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