By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday April 22, 2023
Dusan Lajovic battled past his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic to reach an ATP final for the first time since 2019.
Photo Source: Srpska Open
Dusan Lajovic had the experience of a lifetime on Friday in Banja Luka, as the 32-year-old upset World No.1 Novak Djokovic for his biggest career win.
On Saturday he backed that victory up with a gritty three-set comeback to win an all-Serbian derby with Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 at the Srpska Open.
Kecmanovic rallied from a break down in the middle set and served for his spot in the final with a 5-4 lead, but Lajovic ultimately persevered to reach his first ATP final since 2019, and third overall.
"Honestly he had me by the ropes. I was done," Lajovic admitted in his on-court interview. "But somehow I managed to get back in the match and win the [second set] tie-break. I played pretty good in the tie-break and then I felt pretty confident in the third set even though I was going down physically. I think we both were."
The Serb will face another big test on Sunday in Russia’s Andrey Rublev. The 25-year-old notched his eighth consecutive victory, 6-2, 6-4, over Alex Molcan to reach his second final in as many weeks.
Rublev is fresh off his first Masters 1000 title last week and is emerging as a Roland-Garros contender.
Rublev is now 21-8 on the season, but Lajovic won the pair’s only meeting when he defeated Rublev in the round of 16 at Umag en route to his lone ATP title.