Saville returns to Brisbane final
Luke Saville makes the most of his wildcard entry in Brisbane, reaching the final with another solid display.
Brisbane, QLD, 5 October 2019 | Asher Packman
Luke Saville moved into the Brisbane QTC International final after outclassing Thomas Fancutt in straight sets on Saturday.
The South Australian dominated Fancutt throughout the match, dropping his serve only once to win 6-3 6-4. Saville will face Victorian Dayne Kelly in the final after the Victorian defeated Bradley Mousley 6-2 7-5. It was Kelly’s first straight-set victory of the week with his form peaking at the right time.
“I decided to take a wildcard here and get some matches so I’m happy to be in the final,” Saville, the No.7 seed, said. “I’ve played really well all week and brought the level that I wanted to commit to.”
The former world No.152 admitted it has been more difficult for him to manage his singles load after a strong season with partner Max Purcell saw him rise to world No.82 in doubles.
“I‘ve had a very good year there with Max but I’ve always been confident still in my singles and I want to somehow get a few points before the end of this year if I can; set myself up for January and go from there,” Saville, 27, added.
“I know where I’ve been before and my ranking is obviously nowhere near where I want it to be (currently No.386) but you’ve got to start somewhere and I really want to keep going.
“I still love playing and I’m looking forward to trying to get back up there, but if I don’t, then it is what it is, and I won’t go down without giving it everything I have.”
The women’s final will be contested between West Aussie Maddison Inglis and American Asia Muhammad (No.6). Inglis, the third seed, continued her stellar form, seeing off in-form wildcard Ivana Popovic 6-2 6-2 in just under an hour. While Popovic was outmuscled, she can look back on a breakout week which including a win over No.2 seed Destanee Aiava. Muhammad defeated last-standing qualifier, Korean Sohyun Park, in yet another dominant performance on the Australian Pro Tour in recent times.
Live scores of all Australian Pro Tour events are available through www.tennis.com.au/protour/scores and for a live stream of selected events visit www.tennis.com.au/protour. For updates, follow @oztennisresults on Twitter.