Top seed Tallon Griekspoor edged past Kamil Majchrzak 7-5 7-6 (7-3) to reach his first ATP Tour final on clay court at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakesh.
Majchrzak broke serve at love in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. The Pole won his next three service games to open up a 5-3 lead. Griekspoor battled his way back into contention by reeling off four consecutive games with two breaks of serve to clinch the first set 7-5.
Griekspoor saved the only three only three break points of the second set which went on serve en route to the tie-break.
Griekspoor won four of his five points in the tie-break to open up a 4-1 lead with a mini-break on his third point. The Dutchman closed out the tie-break on his first match point.
Griekspoor has reached the fourth final of his career. He has won two titles in Pune on hard-court and in s’Hertogenbosh on grass. He has become the seventh Dutchman to reach ATP Tour finals on all three surfaces.
“I’m very happy with the win. Obviously, it’s always nice to qualify for a final, it doesn’t happen every week. I’m happy with the performance today, it was a very tough match. I was a break down in the first set, saved a couple of break points deep in the second. I’m very pleased with the way I played and the win today”, said Griekspoor.
Griekspoor set up a final against Luciano Darderi, who beat 2023 Marrakesh winner Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3 6-2 in 1 hour and 32 minutes. Darderi won his first match against Carballes Baena to reach the second ATP Tour final after winning the title in Cordoba last year.
Darderi broke twice in the second and sixth games to race out to a 5-1 lead. The Italian player did not convert a set point in the seventh game and Carballes Baena pulled one break back to reduce the gap to 2-5. Darderi closed out on his second set point with two aces after saving a break point in the ninth game.
Darderi has won eight of his past nine matches after reaching the final at the ATP Challenger Tournament in Neaples last week. Darderi has risen six spots to number 51 in the ATP Ranking.Griekspoor leads 2-0 in his head-to-head matches against Darderi after beating his Italian opponent in straight sets at Roland Garros and in Paris Bercy in 2024.
