Alex De Minaur has a chance to win his seventh ATP Tour title after the Australian saw off a top-10 opponent in Denmark's Holger Rune in the semi-finals of the Mexican Open in Acapulco.
In a match played in sapping humidity that ended just short of 3am, local time, De Minaur held his composure and finished strongly to beat the world number 10 in a scoreline of 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
The second set alone took one hour 20 minutes, as the pair battled through a series of long rallies.
Neither man found it easy to break the other, with nine break points saved between them before De Minaur finally forced the break in the 12th game to take the match into a decider.
The 24-year-old dominated the final set against a tiring Rune, clinching the match after two hours 48 minutes.
The Australian's serve proved to be a problem, with a first-serve percentage of just 50 for the match, including 10 double faults.
De Minaur was also out-hit by the Danish fourth seed, with Rune racking up 38 winners to his opponents' 18.
But the Australian's trademark ability to keep himself alive within points paid off, as Rune made 38 unforced errors compared to just 16 for De Minaur.
"It feels great. It feels like I deserved it," he told ATP Tour.com after reaching his 11th ATP Tour final. "I hung in there, I stayed tough."
In the other semi, Tommy Paul won an all-American matchup against Taylor Fritz.
In a match that went nearly three and a half hours, Paul — who broke through to reach the last four at this year's Australian Open — defeated Fritz 6-3, 6-7(7/2), 7-6(7/2).
The eighth-seeded De Minaur has a career record of 3-0 against Paul.
"He's playing some great tennis. Just look at his results here," De Minaur said of the seventh-seeded Paul.
"It's going to be a great match. I'm looking forward to a battle and to just go out there and leave it all out there. There's not much else you can do. Enjoy the moment," he said.
ABC/AP
