Lehecka saves match point to beat Struff and reach Basel final

Jiří Lehečka was one point from going home. Instead, the Czech will play for the Swiss Indoors title on Sunday after saving a match point against Jan-Lennard Struff and winning their semi-final 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday.

Lehečka will face Valentin Vacherot in the final, after the Monegasque beat Taylor Fritz 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first semi-final. Swiss broadcaster SRF lists the final for 15:30 CET.

Struff so close

For much of the afternoon it looked like Struff's week would get even better. The 36-year-old German, who had beaten Novak Djokovic at the ninth attempt earlier in the tournament, broke Lehečka early and served solidly to take the opening set 6-3.

The decisive moment came deep in the second set. According to German outlet tennisnet, Struff held a match point at 5-4 but could not convert it. Lehečka steadied himself, took the set 7-5 and carried that momentum into the decider, sealing it 6-4. Tennisnet credited the Czech with 22 aces, a weapon that kept him afloat whenever Struff threatened to take control of the rallies.

The defeat stings for Struff, but the week has still been a significant one. Tennisnet reports that the run to the semi-finals earned him roughly €140,000 and lifts him from 47th to around 39th in the rankings. His only ATP title remains the one he won in Munich in 2024.

Lehečka, the "Swiss scare"

Lehečka's path to the final has run straight through the home crowd's hopes. He ended Stan Wawrinka's career earlier in the week in what was the Swiss veteran's final professional match, and in the quarter-finals he stopped the dream run of world No. 222 Jérôme Kym, who had knocked out top seed Ben Shelton. SRF has already dubbed him the "Schweizer Schreck" – the Swiss scare.

The 24-year-old now plays his ninth tour-level final and chases his third ATP title. Finals have been a sore point this season: he lost in Miami to Jannik Sinner and in Tokyo to Carlos Alcaraz.

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Vacherot eyes second title

His opponent comes in with confidence of his own. Vacherot, ranked 31st, beat Holger Rune again in the quarter-finals and saved his best for the semi-final, recovering from 3-5 down in the first-set tie-break against Fritz before closing out in straight sets. He becomes the first Monegasque to reach the Basel final and is chasing only the second ATP title of his career, after his breakthrough as a qualifier in Shanghai a year ago.

There will be a home interest in the doubles on Sunday as well. According to SRF, Swiss pair Henry Bernet and Dominic Stricker upset the top-seeded German team of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz 6-4, 6-4 to reach the doubles final, giving the Basel crowd something to cheer after Lehečka's run through their singles hopes.

The singles winner on Sunday will lift a 500-level trophy on the eve of the Paris Masters, which starts on Monday.