It was a hard-earned sweet revenge for Austria’s top seed Gerard Melzer, who ousted Belgian Yannick Mertens to reach the final of the 2013 ITF Men’s Futures tournament set for today at Umubano Hotel courts.
FinalM. Gerard (Aut) vs L. Jastraunig (Aut) Semi-final resultsM. Gerard (Aut) def Y. Mertens (Bel) 6-3 7-5L. Jastraunig (Aut) def L. Alexander (Bul) 6-4 6-4 It was a hard-earned sweet revenge for Austria’s top seed Gerard Melzer, who ousted Belgian Yannick Mertens to reach the final of the 2013 ITF Men’s Futures tournament set for today at Umubano Hotel courts. The left handed Melzer, ranked 201 on ATP rankings, beat Mertens, seeded second for the tournament 6-3, 7-5 to set up an all-Austrian final against Lukas Jastruanig, who had a relatively easy win over Lazov Alexander of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-4 on Friday. The clash between the Melzer and Mertens was a repeat of the first leg in Burundi late last month at the same stage, which Mertens won 6-2, 6-3 before going on go on to win the tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Lukas Jastruanig. Favorite Melzer is the favourite to win the tournament following his performance in this year’s edition but his doubles’ partners won’t be a pushover having also reached the final in the first leg played in Bujumbura.The 23-year-old Melzer won the doubles category in the USA F12 Futures this year, while Jastruanig, 24, and ranked 624 in the singles ATP, has not won any singles’ title but won the Slovenia F2 Futures, Austria F2 Futures and Austria F4 Futures in the doubles titles. Coming into today’s singles’ final match, Melzer has won 32 and lost 22 matches, while Jastruanig has won 25 and lost 19 matches. The winners in singles and doubles’ category will have a share on the US$15,000 in cash prizes and ATP points to improve their rankings.