Croatia's Borna Coric on Saturday advanced to the Halle Open final after his Spanish opponent Roberto Bautista Agut was forced to withdraw due to physical issues.
Bautista, the fourth seed, was leading 3-2 in the first set after 23 minutes of competition when he decided to withdraw after consulting the tournament physiotherapist, reports Efe.
With Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam event of the year, set to kick off at the beginning of July, Bustista did not want to take any risks, after becoming only the second Spanish player to reach the semis of this 26-year-old tournament.
In his first grass-court final of his career, Coric is to take on world No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland, who has his eyes on a tenth Halle Open title.
Federer managed to defeat the United States' Denis Kudla 7-6 (7-1), 7-5, to extend his grass-court winning streak to 20 victories while reaching his 12th Halle Open final.
--IANS
tri/vm
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
