Tennis Tennis Duckworth to play Kwon for Astana Open title There will be a first-time title winner at the Astana Open after James Duckworth and Kwon Soon-woo who had never reached a tour final won their semifinal matches on Saturday. AP NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan 25 September, 2021 18:53 IST (File Photo) James Duckworth in action. - AP AP NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan 25 September, 2021 18:53 IST There will be a first-time title winner at the Astana Open after two players who had never reached a tour final won their semifinal matches on Saturday.James Duckworth of Australia will play South Korea's Kwon Soon-woo for the title on Sunday in the capital of Kazakhstan. Top-seeded Karatsev loses opening match at Astana Open Duckworth won 6-3, 7-6(4) against eighth-seeded Ilya Ivashka after breaking back from 3-1 down in the second set. It was the third consecutive straight-sets win over a seeded player for the 65th-ranked Duckworth and his ninth straight win overall after winning a Challenger tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, last week.“I knew it was going to be really difficult but, I managed to win that second set in a tie-break," Duckworth said. "It was a very close set that could have gone either way. I think I played the big points well.”Kwon reached his first final with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan. Read more stories on Tennis. For more updates, follow Sportstar on :