Steve Johnson to face David Ferrer in Erste Bank Open final in Vienna
Tuesday 27 October 2015 11:41, UK
American Steve Johnson reached his maiden ATP Tour final thanks to a convincing 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory against Ernests Gulbis at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
The World No 47 took 91 minutes to reach Sunday's final where he will play 33-year-old top seed and last year's runner-up David Ferrer after the Spaniard crushed Gael Monfils' hopes with a 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success.
After losing three semi-finals in his career, the 25-year-old Johnson became the first American to reach the final here since Andre Agassi, who went on to win the title in 1994.
He hammered down an impressive 12 aces and lost his serve just once to improve to 3-0 in meetings against former French Open semi-finalist Gulbis.
The Latvian, who was aiming to reach his first final since winning in Nice 17 months ago, made 29 unforced errors, despite pushing his opponent to a tie-break in the second set.
Last year's Vienna runner-up Ferrer is bidding for a spot in the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals next month in London, and proved too tough for the talented Monfils to handle with the Frenchman making 10 double faults.
Live ATP Tennis
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