Jurgen Melzer and Andreas Haider-Maurer will meet in the final of the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy.
Melzer to meet Haider-Maurer at the Stadthalle
Local players Jurgen Melzer and Andreas Haider-Maurer will meet in the final of the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy after both recorded semi-final victories on Saturday.
Top seed and defending champion Melzer overcame third seed Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-4, before Haider-Maurer continued his dream run with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 victory over German Michael Berrer.
Melzer's victory in just over 90 minutes made up for his loss in the previous encounter with Spaniard Almagro back in May on the Madrid clay.
Speaking after the match, Melzer, who has been playing with a sore elbow, said: "It's fantastic to be back in this final at home, I'm certainly hoping to be able to win again. I hope my elbow won't be a problem."
Melzer will be playing in his 10th ATP final on Sunday, where he will be looking to improve his 2-7 record.
Later in the day, Austrian compatriot Haider-Maurer defied the odds and his 157th ranking to defeat Berrer in three sets at the Stadthalle.
Haider-Maurer, who mainly competes on the lower challenger circuit, had never reached the quarter-finals of an ATP event until this week.
He lost in qualifying before entering the main draw as a replacement for Ernests Gulbis, and went on to beat Thomas Muster, Andreas Seppi and last year's finalist Marin Cilic.
"It's just unbelievable," the 23-year-old said. "I am so excited all week that I can't sleep more than four or five hours a night."
