Could the second time be the charm for Federico Delbonis?
In a hard-fought semifinal match at the Brasil Open, the 23-year-old professional tennis player defeated home-crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in 2 hours, 9 minutes to reach a title match for only the second time in his career.
Delbonis, who lost his first finals match in Hamburg last year, will play Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi – ranked No. 114 in the world – in the men’s final.
Top-seeded Tommy Haas retired from his semifinal match against Lorenzi on Saturday.
Lorenzi was leading Haas 6-3, 3-2 when the German called it quits due to a shoulder injury.
Lorenzi and the No. 61-ranked Delbonis have never faced each other before on the ATP World Tour.