Adrian Mannarino, Laslo Djere advance to Winston-Salem Open tennis final | Sports News

Wake Forest Tennis Center

2 p.m.: Doubles final, Jamie Murray and Matthew Ebden vs. Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski

5 p.m.: Singles final, Adrian Mannarino vs. Laslo Djere or Marc-Andrea Huesler

Note: Tickets from Session 12 on Friday, postponed because of rain, will be honored for Saturday’s doubles final. The stadium will be cleared before the singles final.

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4 p.m., is in the National Weather Service forecast. 

Adrian Mannarino def. Botic van de Zandschulp, 6-0, 6-4

Laslo Djere def. Marc-Andrea Huesler 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5)

No. 52 in ATP Live Rankings

“Botic didn’t start the match so well, but then in the second set it was really tight. He was serving well, putting a lot of pressure and I was able to keep my nerve and serve well in the key moments. I’m really happy with that.” – Mannarino in his on-court interview after the match, according to ATPTour.com. He declined an interview request from the Journal.

• Took advantage of service issues for van de Zandschlup, breaking him in three games in the first set. Then Mannarino broke again in the ninth game of the second set, taking advantage of four unforced errors, to lead 5-4 and held serve to advance.
• Van de Zandschlup totaled five double faults during the match.
• Playing in his first final of the season and his first since 2020.
• Would move to No. 45 in the rankings with a victory.
• Has won one career title, in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, in 2019.
• Reached the Atlanta quarterfinals in July and Delray Beach quarterfinals in February.
• Lost to van de Zandschulp in an Australian Open warmup tournament in January in their only other career meeting.

No. 72 in ATP Live Rankings

• Closed the semifinal on his ninth match point.
• Reached the Bastad quarterfinals in July.
• Has won two ATP Tour titles: Rio de Janeiro in 2019, Sardinia in 2020.
• Highest career ranking is No. 27.
• The 27-year-old from Serbia turned pro in 2013.

Tournament director Jeff Ryan is pleased with how the event has unfolded as it heads into its final day. What he’s saying:

• “I couldn’t be more pleased. Our sales are up across the board. We’re doing good things for the community. Saturday, we had that sellout (Brenner Children’s Hospital Kids’ Day). And that means that we were successful in a new space where we’re trying to not only be here for the community to come to us, but for us to go to the community. And we brought in some new groups of people – young, old, middle age – who saw the tournament for the first time. So I was very pleased with that on Saturday. And the tennis is, just based on the numbers and what I’m experiencing, really pleasing the fans.” – Ryan regarding the event’s first day.
• “It kind of has that similar feel to a field that seems to always kind of percolate up here at the Winston Salem Open over the years. I’ve been coming here every year; I’ve been in the background. I just feel like it’s kind of a typical field. And it’s a great field. And I think the fans like the quality of tennis.” – Ryan evaluating the semifinal field during play Friday night.
• “I’ve spent 35 years planning events, and things that I would characterize as kind of simple have had a good impact on the site. So if you envision that (concessions) stand being out, penetrating more of this area (being closer to the Tennis Center than it is now), that was not the setup in the past. There was always a tendency to just bring stuff out here. If you do that, the lines end up where you and I are talking. It’s not rocket science, but it is what I do. And those little touches are kind of what I call my specialty or what I’m known for. I like the pro shop, the fact that it’s set back there. Within the space that we have, I feel like it’s good use of the space; it’s just much more spacious.” – Ryan on a modified area on the concourse for spectators.