By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday April 10, 2021

Lorenzo Sonego is on the cusp of carving out a piece of Italian tennis history. The World No.34 topped Taylor Fritz on Saturday, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 to reach the final at Sardegna.




The 25-year-old will face Laslo Djere in the final and if he comes through he’ll become the first Italian to claim a title on home soil since Filippo Volandri in 2006 at Palermo.

Sonego led by a set and 3-0 but Fritz rallied to take the middle set, forcing things to a decider, but it was all Sonego in the third. Fritz lost nine of eleven points on serve at one point, and fell behind by three breaks at 0-5. He was able to break Sonego and avoid the bagel but Sonego broke back to close the contest in two hours and 39 minutes.

Sonego improved to 2-2 lifetime against the top American and 2-0 on clay against Fritz.

Fritz drops to 0-3 in clay semifinals. He was bidding to become the first American to reach a clay final since Frances Tiafoe at Estoril in 2018.

Djere Stays Hot on Italian Soil

Laslo Djere dominated Nikoloz Basilashvili, 6-2, 6-0 to reach the final. Djere won the title at the Sardegna Open last year, defeating Marco Cecchinato.

The 25-year-old never faced a break point and converted five of eight break points to control Basilashvili.

The Serb needed just 52 minutes to tackle Basilashvili, and improve to 10-1 lifetime on Italian soil. Djere also improved to 2-8 lifetime in ATP semifinals with his win. He won the final nine games of the match.

Djere and Sonego have split their two head-to-head meetings on the ATP Tour, with Sonego taking their only battle on clay in 2019 at Marrakech.