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Toby Samuel’s dream run at the Lexus Eastbourne Open came to an end at the semi-final stage at the hands of Belgium’s Zizou Bergs
Initially losing out in qualifying before replacing Francisco Cerundolo in the main draw, the 23-year-old reached the last four of an ATP Tour event for the first time in his career, but he was unable to go one step further as Bergs defeated him 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Competing in undoubtedly the biggest game of his career to date under the sun-baked Devonshire Park, the Brit wasn’t fazed by the occasion, winning the first three games to storm into a 3-0 lead in the first set before taking it 6-4, putting one foot in the showpiece event.
However, Samuel’s nerves started to come through in the second; having the opportunity to serve for the game at 4-5, Bergs managed to break the young Brit before edging him in the tie-break to level the scores and take it into a third and deciding set.
The world number 48’s experience eventually prevailed on the south coast as he swept aside Samuel, ranked 142 in the world, to book his spot in the final and now awaits either Jack Draper or Ugo Humbert.
Despite being so close to a maiden ATP Tour final, on home soil, it has been an excellent week for the Winchester-born player, who hadn’t won a tour-level match before entering Eastbourne this week.
Samuel will now turn his preparations to Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, after receiving a wildcard for the men’s singles main draw and will begin his tournament against Roland Garros semi-finalist Jakub Mensik in the opening round.
