De Mino surpasses Opelka to reach Atlanta Tennis Championships final

(Reuters) – Alex De Mino defeated American Riley Obelka 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 on Saturday night to reach the Atlanta Open final where he will face Taylor Fritz after the victory of American Cameron Nuri 6-1, 3-6 6-3 in the other semifinal.

Although the grand Opelka fired 28 times, De Mino sent the best of his semi-final in hot and humid weather in the capital of Georgia.

The Australian player scored 96% of his first points and never gave Obilka a break.

The turn came in the third set when De Mino finally broke the opelka at 3-2.

The 20-year-old beat his American opponent by the time Obelka hit the back of the goal to commit his 38th easy foul.

"Riley is a staggering opponent, he is a very strong player and an excellent friend.

"It's like playing here, I should wait in the right way (when I fight back) at some important points and I've been lucky enough to win today."

De Mino will face his fifth career final, while his only title was won earlier this year at Sydney International.

Despite the defeat, Obilka will enter the top 50 list for the first time in his career when the new list will be released Monday.

Fritz also needed three sets to go beyond Nuri, and the 21-year-old continues to seek his second title after his first title at Eastbourne International last month.

The match seemed easy at first against Fritz, who was punctured by his fine shot, but Nuri jumped into the second set to force his opponent to enter a crucial set.

Fritz had a boost in the third set when he managed a successful strike to give him a chance to break the broadcast and took advantage of it when Nuri pulled off the field to delay 4-2.

"I was really happy with my ability to upset things after the second set defeat," said Fritz. I tried to make adjustments in the third set and I gained a lot of important points and I managed to transform the game from a mental point of view. "