Vacherot Beats Fritz to Reach Basel Final
The Monegasque saves his best for the tiebreak and a single break of serve, and faces Jiří Lehečka, who escaped a match point against Jan-Lennard Struff.
Valentin Vacherot beat sixth seed Taylor Fritz 7–6(5), 6–3 in the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors Basel and will play Jiří Lehečka for the title.
Vacherot, 27, trailed 1–4 in the first-set tiebreak and won six of the next seven points, then broke Fritz at 4–3 in the second set. He won 40 of 51 points on his first serve. He is the first player from Monaco to reach the final in Basel, and it is his first final of the season. "You just have to pray on the returns because Taylor is one of the best servers on Tour," Vacherot said.
Fritz, 12th in the ATP Live Race to Turin, had been chasing points for a place at the ATP Finals.
Lehečka, the eighth seed, beat Jan-Lennard Struff 3–6, 7–5, 6–4, saving a match point on his serve at 4–5 in the second set and hitting 22 aces.
Valentin Vacherot beat sixth seed Taylor Fritz 7–6(5), 6–3 in the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors Basel and will play Jiří Lehečka, who saved a match point against Jan-Lennard Struff, for the title.
Vacherot, 27, trailed 1–4 in the first-set tiebreak and won six of the next seven points. He broke Fritz at 4–3 in the second set and closed out the match in 1 hour 26 minutes.
He hit 10 aces to Fritz's 11 and won 40 of 51 points on his first serve.
"You just have to pray on the returns because Taylor is one of the best servers on Tour," Vacherot said.
He is the first player from Monaco to reach the final in Basel. It is his first final of the season and the second of his career, after his title at the 2025 Shanghai Masters.
Fritz, 12th in the ATP Live Race to Turin, had been chasing points for a place at the ATP Finals.
Lehečka, the eighth seed, beat Struff 3–6, 7–5, 6–4 in 2 hours 1 minute. He saved the match point on his serve at 4–5 in the second set and hit 22 aces.
Lehečka, 24, beat Vacherot in Tokyo earlier in October.