Sawt Falasteen - Aussie Thompson to face Japan's Nishioka in ATP Atlanta final

Thompson outlasted Chinese teen qualifier Shang Juncheng 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 while Nishioka beat France's Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the first US hardcourt tuneup event for the US Open.

Nishioka, ranked 86th, has defeated 41st-ranked Thompson in all four of their prior ATP meetings, all on hardcourts, the most recent last year at Paris.

After breaking in the eighth game of the third set, Thompson blasted his 13th ace to reach match point and captured the match after two hours and 21 minutes on a forehand slam winner.

"I served really well," Thompson said. "I only was broken one time, held off a couple of games. I felt like my serve really kept me in it."

The 30-year-old from Sydney, into his fourth career ATP final, won his first ATP title in February at Los Cabos, defeating Norway's Casper Ruud in the final.

He could jump from 41st in the world rankings into the top 30 for the first time by winning the crown.

Nishioka, 28, seeks his third career ATP title after the 2018 Shenzhen Open and 2022 Korea Open in Seoul.

Nishioka got a break chance and match point on Rinderknech in the final game and the Japanese star's backhand winner ended matters after two hours and 19 minutes, advancing him to a sixth career ATP final.

L.AbuTayeh--SF-PST