Adrian Mannarino has a few tennis monkeys off his back after reaching the Heineken Open final in Auckland.
In 10 years as a professional the 26-year-old Frenchman had never made an ATP tour final until his 6-4 3-6 7-5 victory over his 20-year-old compatriot Lucas Pouille, earning himself a match against Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic.
It was also his first victory over any player coached by Emmanuel Planque in four or five attempts.
“He told me before the match `I know exactly what he has to do to beat you’,” Mannarino said.
“I was always thinking `what is he going to do, what is he going to do’. It’s another thing to handle, but I did it so for the first time I’m going to be able to go and see him and say `you didn’t have the solution today’.”
Mannarino looked well in control in the first set after an early break of serve.
His languid style seemed to suck Pouille into playing quietly in the first set, and Mannarino was untroubled to take it.
But he missed an opportunity to break Pouille at 2-2 in the second set, and said he lost the plot for the rest of the set.
“He did like anyone is doing when you know you feel like the match is lost and your opponent is giving you a chance. He took his opportunity and he did well,” Mannarino said.
“When you are going crazy a little bit like this it’s tough to come back on your match. Finally I did it, I was able to calm down a little bit.”
The final will be Mannarino’s first at ATP Tour level, but he has risen to a career-high 44 in the rankings and he should be at least in the top 40 after this week even if he doesn’t win the final.
It was still a good tournament for Pouille, who only got a place in the main draw as a lucky loser. His ranking should shoot up from 136 into the top 120.
Mannarino will play 21-year-old Vesely in the final after the Czech upset fourth seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-4 7-6.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s doubles final will feature fourth seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Leander Paes of India taking on Dominic Inglot of Britain and Florin Mergea of Romania.
