Felix Auger-Aliassime has ousted top seed Tommy Paul from the Adelaide International to set up a final against Sebastian Korda.
Auger-Aliassime prevailed 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-4 in a hard-fought first semi-final at Memorial Drive on Friday.
The Canadian’s victory was then followed by second seed Korda downing Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3 7-6 (7-4) in the late game.
Montreal-born Auger-Aliassime, who hit a career-high No.6 ranking in 2022, is chasing a sixth career title.
“It would be the perfect way to start the year, for sure,” he said.
“In the past I haven’t played every time the week before (a major).
“But with the ranking being a bit lower nowadays, and having not have won a lot of matches in a row lately, I feel like the goal here was to just compete, play more matches, give myself a chance to win matches.
“And so far, it’s been good.
“There’s one more to go. Finals are always important, very motivating, so I’m going to give it my all.”
Auger-Aliassime’s ranking has drifted to No.29 but the 24-year-old holds encouraging form at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
His best Open result is a quarter-final loss in 2022 but he has gone to the third round or beyond in the past four editions.
“I’m not trying to think too much ahead,” he said.
“There’s still some tennis to play tomorrow … but I have been training well.
“The off-season was beneficial for me and we’ve done some good work, so I trust that we will get rewarded.”
It won’t be easy against Korda, the 24-year-old American who reached the final in Adelaide two years ago, only losing to Novak Djokovic in a close three-setter.
The world no.22 was in sharp form against another Serb Kecmanovic, taking the first set with the only break of the match before also coming up big in the decisive tie break.
He sealed victory with a thunderous forehand winner to prevail in an hour and 20 minutes and set up the chance of lifting his third ATP crown.
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