Kavcic and Suk to fight it out in Bangkok final

Kavcic was leading Taiwan’s Jimmy Wang 7-6 (7-4) 5-2 when the latter, who saved four match points in the eighth game of the second set, called it quits owing to back injury. Earlier 20-year-old Suk booked his first Challenger final in a year after second seed Matthew Ebden of Australia gave up at 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 5-4, citing injury to his left leg.

The 26-year-old Kavcic, who was making his debut appearance in Bangkok, will be chasing his ninth Challenger title in today’s final against Suk. It will be the first meeting between the two. Kavcic, the world No 126, who hails from Ljubijana, last savoured a victory in a Challenger event in Furth, Germany in June last year.

The clay specialist will also be eyeing for his second hard court title after winning his only title on cement in Qarshi, Uzbekistan, three years ago. His other seven Challenger wins were all on clay.

Little known Suk has beaten three seeds on his way to the final – eighth seed Benjamin Mitchell of Australia in the second round, fourth-seeded Yuichi Sugita of Japan in the quarter-finals and Ebden. 

By beating Ebden, the giantkiller avenged his loss to the Australian in the Davis Cup tie last year where Ebden prevailed in three straight sets. Ranked 330th, Suk is in his second challenger final since losing to Germany’s Peter Gojowczky in Ningbo last September. In the doubles final, Chen Ti and Huang Liang-Chi of Taiwan had no problem in defeating Suk and Nam Ji Sung 6-3 6-2.