Los Cabos [Mexico], February 24 : The World No. 40 Jordan Thompson sealed an upset of top seed and No. 6 Alexander Zverev at the Mifel Tennis Open to seal his place in the summit clash.
The Aussie reached to his third tour-level championship match with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) victory. In quest of his first ATP Tour crown, he will meet Casper Ruud in Saturday's final at the ATP 250.
"I think it's just a miracle. I never thought I'd be here," Thompson said of his Los Cabos run as quoted by ATP.
Zverev won the second set without facing a break point after Thompson won the first, which had five breaks. In the decisive set, neither player had any break opportunities until Thompson earned five at 6-5, which also served as match points.
With quick serving and steady play during the rallies, Zverev managed to win that match; nevertheless, Thompson took control of the tie-break, winning six of the next seven points to take a 6/1 lead. In the steamy conditions, the Australian went into lockdown mode and offered Zverev nothing in the final moments.
"It doesn't feel effective. It was over three and a half hours. It was just a great match and I just competed until the end I really don't know what to say. I'm pretty tired," said the Aussie.
His reward was a win in the Top 10, his second against Zverev, whom he had also defeated in Tokyo in October last year.
Earlier in the evening, Ruud produced a near-flawless serving display to defeat defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinal. The fourth-seeded Norwegian survived five-set chances in the second set to win in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(4), after having a commanding start to the semi-final.
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