It will be an all-unseeded final at the Winston-Salem Open after Adrian Mannarino eliminated Botic van de Zandschulp 6-0 6-4 in the semi-final.
Van de Zandschulp, the tournament’s second seed, was the last seeded entrant remaining in the draw.
In a dominant first set, Mannarino won 80 per cent (12-of-15) of his service points to not allow his Dutch opponent any openings, and he took advantage of some sloppy play.
Van de Zandschulp committed four double faults and 16 unforced errors in the opening set, while Mannarino had no double faults and only one unforced error as the 34-year-old played a veteran’s game and allowed his opponent to beat himself.
Overall, Van de Zandschulp committed 20 more unforced errors and five more double faults in the loss.
Mannarino will play Serbia’s Laslo Djere in the final, with a chance to win his second career ATP Tour title. His sole title came at the Netherlands’ Rosmalen Championships back in 2019. He has a career record of 1-9 in finals.
Djere made it through after yet another grinding affair, defeating Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) in two hours and 20 minutes.
All five of his wins this week have required over two hours of court time, with this being his first straight sets result.
In a match that saw each player secure one break of serve, Djere was just slightly better throughout, winning 52 per cent (98-of-189) of the total points, while building a 37-24 advantage in the winners category and serving 10 aces to Huesler’s four.