Germany's Struff stuns defending champion Rune to reach Munich final
Two-time BMW Open defending champion Holger Rune was stunned by home hope Jan-Lennard Struff in Munich on Saturday and won't bid for a third consecutive title.
Struff earned the biggest win of his season as he downed Rune 6-2, 6-0 to reach the final in Munich for the second time.
"It was the perfect match. Of course I'm going to try to win the title now. I will give it my all," the German said.
Struff is seeking his maiden tour-level title. Earlier in the day completed a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, after that match was stopped due to darkness the previous day with Struff 3-1 up in the second set.
In Sunday's final, he will face third seed Taylor Fritz, who defeated former champion Cristian Garin, 6-3, 6-4, to reach his first career clay court final.
American Fritz faced no break point while breaking Chile's Garin once in each set en route to a semi-final victory in 1 hour 21 minutes.
The 2019 winner Garin had upset twice Munich champion and top seed Alexander Zverev the previous day but ran out of luck against Fritz who won a first clay-court semi-final in his seventh attempt.
"It is really cool [to reach the final]. I have been really close to a clay-court final a couple of times. It would be awesome to get a title on a clay court," the American said.
Fritz will be bidding for his second title of the year and eighth overall.
