Aussie Max Purcell has progressed to a maiden ATP Tour final at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne, England.
On Friday, Purcell defeated local wildcard Billy Harris 6-4 4-6 6-4 to progress to the final of the last grass court tournament before Wimbledon kicks off.
Purcell recently made changes to his team after a slump in performance saw him at risk of falling outside the men’s top 100.
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The former Australian Open men’s doubles finalist soared to a career-high ranking of world No.40 in October last year before briefly slipping to 101 ahead of the ATP 250 event.
Having won through qualifying before carving up his side of the draw — Purcell becomes just the fourth qualifier in the tournament’s history to reach the final.
“I have a new coach this week and I feel everything is coming together,” Purcell said.
“It feels good. Qualifying last week in Halle gave me confidence, a couple of straight sets matches there. I felt that I was due to get a couple of wins.”
The Eastbourne tournament could have seen an all-Australian decider before American Taylor Fritz triumphed over fellow Aussie Aleks Vukic in their semi final.
In bizarre scenes, Vukic was unnerved by a flock of seagulls who circled the court in the narrow 7-6(5) 7-6(4) loss.
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With the decider between Purcell and world No.13 Fritz set for Saturday night (AEST), Purcell enters the underdog.
Fritz, a dual-champion at Eastbourne, edged Purcell in two tiebreakers when the pair met in Basel last year.
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Nevertheless, the achievement is a welcome boost for Purcell ahead of the opening round at SW19.
Purcell is set to face Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen in the first round on Monday while Vukic has drawn world No.54 Sebastian Ofner — the Austrian will play in the final at the ATP 250 event in Mallorca, Spain on Saturday.