Fabio Fognini to face Richard Gasquet in Swedish Open final

Fabio Fognini booked his place in the Swedish Open final in Bastad with a gruelling three-set win over Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco.

The Italian twice threw away a break in the deciding set before holding his nerve to pull through 6-1 4-6 7-5 in two hours and 17 minutes.

Fognini will play Richard Gasquet in his second tour final of the season after the Frenchman ended the run of Swiss lucky loser Henri Laaksonen.

The world number 148 had enjoyed a remarkable run in the tournament but proved no match for Gasquet who triumphed 6-2 6-3 in little more than an hour.

At the Croatia Open in Umag there was a shock for sixth seed Robin Haase who fell to a three-set defeat to Guido Pella of Argentina.

Haase stormed back after dropping the opening set to seize the advantage but Pella held firm in the decider to book his final place with a 6-2 1-6 6-2 win.

Pella will play Marco Cecchinato in the final after the Italian saw off another Argentinian, qualifier Marco Trungelliti, 6-2 6-1 in just 66 minutes.

India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan reached the first tour final of his career with victory over Tim Smyczek at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport.

The world number 161 needed exactly one and a half hours to wrap up a 6-4 7-5 win, breaking his opponent three times in a topsy-turvy second set.

Standing in Ramanathan’s way will be another American, Steve Johnson, who beat Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-3 in the other semi-final.