Reilly Opelka notched his 100th tour-level win after victory over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard sealed his passage into the Brisbane International final. (More Tennis News)
The American prevailed 6-3 7-6 (7-4) afte♓r 🍒85 minutes to set up a showdown with Jiri Lehecka in the championship match.
Opelka was fresh from taking out Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals, and built on that momentum by breaking his opponent in the second🎃 game, on the way to taking the opening set.
The second set remained on serve – with Opelka winning 85% of his first-serve points and saving all four break points he faced – and headed to a tie-break, wꦫhere the 27-year-old held his nerve𝔉 to advance to his seventh ATP final, and first since 2022.
Standing in his way of a fifth ATP titꦬle is Lehecka, who dethroned Grigor Dimitrov after the reigning champion was forced to ret⭕ire injured.
The Czech, who claimed his maiden ATP crown in Adelaide last year, was�� 6-4 4-4 to the good and had not faced a break point when the contest w🤪as brought to a premature conclusion.
"🍸;The first thing is that you come here to Australia from Europe, so immediately you feel good," said the 23-year-o𒈔ld, who has dropped just a single set this week. "That's the first thing, which is very important.
"It doesn't matter if it's Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney – all these cities are nice. The people are nice. The tournaments are very well-organised, which helps you a lot through the first d๊ays of the year."
Meanwhile, at the Hong 🐼Kong Tennis Open, Kei Nishikori advanced to his first ATP final in six years following the withdrawal of semi-final opponent Shang J🐎uncheng through illness.
The former US Open r♉unner-up will play Alexandre Muller in the championship match, after the Frenchman saw off Jaume Munar.
