(Reuters) - Marathon man Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France delivered another Houdini-like escape to reach his first ATP World Tour final with a 3-6 7-6(5) 6-2 victory over Steve Johnson at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina on Friday.
The French qualifier, playing his eighth match in seven days, came from a set down against the 13th-seeded American and shrugged off an early break in the second to win a see-sawing semi-final in one hour 40 minutes.
Herbert, a doubles specialist who is ranked 140th in the singles, broke Johnson's serve twice in the third set and powered down 19 aces during the match to reach the final.