ATP Tour

Navone upsets three-time Geneva champion Ruud, faces Tien in final

Mariano Navone reached his fourth tour-level final on Friday at the Gonet Geneva Open, where he upset three-time champion Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-2.

Navone rallied from 5-7, 1-5 in his opening-round match against Marco Trungelliti and has since built on that victory with straight-set triumphs against Cameron Norrie, Jaume Munar and Ruud at the ATP 250 clay-court event.

"I am really happy right now," Navone said. "It was a really tough first set. He is playing very good right now and coming back in the Top 20. It is a big result for me and the second final for me on the clay in this swing."

In an impressive display against the Norwegian, Navone was aggressive off the backhand, consistently striking the ball down the line to harm the sixth seed. The Argentine struck 27 winners, including a backhand winner on match point, to advance after one hour and 42 minutes.

Navone is chasing his second tour-level trophy after winning Bucharest in April. The 25-year-old is up five spots to No. 37 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and will meet Learner Tien in the title match on Saturday.

Ruud advanced to the final at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome last week and then earned wins against Jenson Brooksby, Raphael Collignon and Alexei Popyrin in Geneva, where he lifted the trophy in 2021, 2022 and 2024. The two-time Roland Garros finalist will now head to Paris.

Fourth seed Tien battled past second seed Alexander Bublik 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(5) to reach his third tour-level final and first on clay.

In a dramatic ending, Tien squandered four match points from 6/1 in the third-set tie-break. However, the lefty eventually sealed victory on his fifth chance when he showed incredible defence on Bublik's serve. The American scrambled around the baseline to hang in the point and then scamped up to a short ball, eventually forcing Bublik to miss a volley.

"I can't believe the match is over," Tien said. "I thought I was going to lose that point for sure. I guessed right, got a bit lucky and I am really happy to come through."

Tien, 20, is the youngest Geneva finalist since Sergi Bruguera, 19, in 1990 and is the second American finalist at the ATP 250 event after Aaron Krickstein in 1984. Tien is seeking his second tour-level crown after winning Metz last year.

Tien, who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in his opening match in Geneva, has earned six tour-level victories on clay this year. Last week in Rome, the World No. 20 advanced to the fourth round.