ZIMBABWE tennis ace, Takanyi Garanganga rallied from a set down to beat Aldin Setkic from Bosnia and Herzegovina and book a place in the final of the $15 000 Nigeria F4 Futures tournament at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club yesterday.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
Garanganga, who was seeded third in the tournament edged past the top seeded Setkic 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 in an epic semi-final encounter, which lasted three-hours and 15 minutes .
The 25-year-old United States-based rising star will now look to end the year on a high by winning a career seven professional singles title, when he plays Netherlands’ Antal van Der Duim in today’s final.
Van Der Duim caused an upset of his own, beating South Africa’s Lloyd Harris 6-2, 6-4 in straight sets in the other semifinal.
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However, Garanganga will be confident of a victory againist the 28-year-old Dutchman after registering a comfortable 6-4, 6-0 quarterfinal win against the same opponent in the quarterfinals of last week’s Nigeria F3 Futures.
Garanganga, who is currently ranked 438 in the world, has won four matches to reach the final.
He topped Nigeria’s Christopher Anefu 6-2, 6-2 in the first round before knocking out another home favourite, Imeh Ubon, in the second round, 6-4, 6-2.
He rallied to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Uganda’s Duncan Mugabe Mina in the quarter-finals before yesterday’s win against Setkic, who is ranked 218th in the world.