Aleksandar Vukic's hopes of making it into a second ATP final and enjoying another crack at a maiden triumph have crumbled in Kazakhstan.
The Sydneysider, who reached a semi-final on the Eastbourne grass this year and featured in a hard-court final in Atlanta in 2023, this time had to give second best to always tough Russian Karen Khachanov in the Almaty Open semi-finals on Saturday.
The 28-year-old heavy-hitting Aussie, who had achieved one of the best wins of his career 24 hours earlier when defeating top seed Frances Tiafoe in the quarters, this time found third seed Khachanov too tough to handle after a good start as he went down 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-4.
All looked good for world No.85 Vukic following a tight opening set as he raced into a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak and held on.
The match, though, turned on two poor back-to-back Vukic service games at the end of the second set and the start of the third, when he was broken to 15 on each occasion while Khachanov eased into the driving seat.
There looked no way back for Vukic at 5-1 down in the decider, but he rallied to 5-4 before Khachanov served out for the two-and-a-quarter hour triumph and a place in the final against Canadian Gabriel Diallo.
Diallo achieved a double breakthrough by sinking Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-4 6-2 in his semi-final at the indoor hard-court event in just 68 minutes.
Not only did it propel the 23-year-old into his first ATP final but also pushed him into the world's top-100 for the first time.
"It's super special, a pretty big milestone," said the Montreal player.
