In Adelaide, Bautista Agut deflates Kokkinakis’ hopes.

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On Friday at the Adelaide International 2, the fourth-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut faced an in-form Thanasi Kokkinakis supported by a noisy home crowd, but the Spaniard kept his calm to win a tight 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3 semi-final match at the ATP 250 event.

Kokkinakis, a fan favourite from South Australia, gave Bautista Agut a tough time with his powerful serving and dazzling forehand play. The 34-year-signature old’s flat baseline hitting helped him save all nine break points he faced in a dramatic final set, sealing a victory after two hours and 35 minutes and setting up a championship match against Soonwoo Kwon.

Bautista Agut remarked of Kokkinakis after the match, “He’s a very talented player, he was serving fantastic.” On this court, he is outstanding. There’s a lot of promise there, and I hope for the best for him. Thanasi was a strong opponent on this court today.

Having won his first ATP Tour title in his hometown in 2022, Kokkinakis was in the midst of another impressive run. In the first set, Bautista Agut had little opportunities on return because to the accuracy of his serving; the Australian lost only three points behind his initial delivery. However, the Spaniard remained composed and took an early 4-1 lead in the tie-break, which proved decisive.

Case in point: the home team’s “wild card.” For the first time in their ATP Head2Head meeting, Kokkinakis broke Bautista Agut in the eighth game of the second set to force a third set, and the outcome of the match ultimately depended on Bautista Agut’s ability to continually elevate his level when facing break point. The World No. 26 reached his 22nd ATP Tour final with a break of Kokkinakis’s serve in the second game.

Bautista Agut, an 11-time tour-level champion, continued his tradition of good play in the first weeks of the ATP Tour season with his run in Adelaide. If he wins Saturday’s final against Kwon, it will be his sixth tour-level trophy in the month of January, including his 2016 and 2018 victories in Auckland, as well as 2017 and 2018 victories in Chennai and Doha (2019).

RBA ends Kokkinakis' dream run

Roberto Bautista defeats defending champ 7-6 3-6 6-3 to reach the final in Adelaide

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— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) January 13, 2023

When asked about his impressive January stats, Bautista Agut replied, “It feels wonderful to be back home after spending all year travelling and working, so for me to take a few days off after the end of the season and practise hard, feels good for me.” Over the course of my career, “I’ve always felt well at the start of the season.”

Before losing to Draper in the final, Kwon had defeated Jack in three sets, 7-6(6), 6-7(2), 6-3, with his own impressive performance of baseline hitting.

After losing in qualification to Draper in Adelaide last week, the South Korean was eliminated from this week’s ATP 250 by Tomas Machac. But once he was in the draw, he wasted no time in getting back at Machac in the first round and then beating second seed Pablo Carreno Busta and third seed Mikael Ymer to advance to the semifinals.

“Today’s match was quite challenging,” “Kwon responded when asked how he managed to last through the two hours and 45 minutes he spent fighting Draper in the sweltering Adelaide sun. “For me, today’s victory just brings a sense of relief and joy. He had a great showing the week before, so I made an effort to take this match in stride and maintain a positive attitude. I made an effort to be more assertive.”

Kwon won an exciting semi-final match with to his powerful forehand shots and steady clean baseline strokes. Kwon saved nine of 10 break points faced by Draper as the World No. 84 evened their ATP Head2Head series, 44-36.

He finally got his revenge on Draper and is now in his second ATP Tour final, following his 2021 run to the title in Astana (then Nur-Sultan). Six tournaments have been held in Adelaide since 2020, and Kwon is the first lucky loser to reach the final.