Atlanta Open SF: Tsukue and Salem Down Top Two Seeds

Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue and Egypt’s Zahed Salem downed the top two seeds to reach the final of the Atlanta Open on Saturday.

The Japanese No.1 had already defeated No.3 seed Juan Camilo Vargas and No.8 seed Christopher Gordon to reach the semi-finals. He came up against the event’s top seed, Canada’s David Baillargeon, in the last four.

Tsukue won the opening game on a tie-break 14-12, before then doubling his advantage in the contest with a commanding second game scoreline, 11-2. Baillargeon tried to fight back, and did so to win the third, but that was as far as the fight could go, with the top seed losing the fourth 11-4 to see Tsukue book his place in the final.

He will now face Egypt’s Zahed Salem in the final on Sunday. The former World No.14 overcame the tournament’s No.2 seed, Timothy Brownell. After losing the opening game, the American then won the next two games by 11-9 scorelines to hold the lead. 

Salem, though, fought back, and he took the fourth 11-7 to send the match into a decider. The fifth game was tight, but in the end, it was the Egyptian that came out the victor. He won it 11-8 to secure the win after 95 minutes of action, to move through to a third final in his last four tournaments.

The final of the Atlanta Open will be played on Sunday, April 23 between Ryunosuke Tsukue and Zahed Salem, and you can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. 

Semi-Final Results: Atlanta Open
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt [1] David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-1: 14-12, 11-2, 8-11, 11-4 (51m)
[5] Zahed Salem (EGY) bt [2] Timothy Brownell (USA) 3-2: 12-10, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8 (95m)

Final Draw: To Be Played Sunday, April 23
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) v [5] Zahed Salem (EGY)