British player rallies past Russian for shot at second Irving Tennis Classic title

Aljaz Bedene’s chances of returning to Sunday’s final at the Irving Tennis Classic didn’t look good early in his match against Russian Andrey Rublev, who won the first set 6-1.

But Bedene, the 2015 Irving champion, came through in a second-set tiebreaker, then cruised to a 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory in Saturday’s semifinals at the Four Seasons Resort and Club in Las Colinas in Irving.

Bedene, who now plays under the British flag after after switching from Slovenia in 2015, will take on Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the final. Kukushkin had an easier time reaching the final, beating Dustin Brown of Germany 6-4, 6-4.

Sunday’s finals will kick off at noon with Oliver Marach of Austria and Fabrice Martin of France taking on Marcus Daniell of New Zealand and Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil in the doubles final at noon. The singles final will follow.

This story was originally published March 18, 2017 at 11:47 PM with the headline "British player rallies past Russian for shot at second Irving Tennis Classic title."