Jordan Thompson reaches Atlanta final | ATP Tour

Atlanta

Thompson ‘shows fighting spirit’ to beat Shang, reach Atlanta final

The Sydney native meets Nishioka, who eliminated Rinderknech in three sets

July 27, 2024

Jordan Thompson reached his fourth career final on tour on Saturday at the Atlanta Open, where he defeated 19-year-old Shang Juncheng, #NextGenATP, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

If the Australian goes one step further and wins his second tour-level title – following his triumph in Los Cabos in February – the 30-year-old would enter the Top 30 of the PIF ATP rankings for the first time in his career.

“I served really well today. I only got broken once and I held on for a few games. I felt like my serve really kept me in it,” said Thompson, who hit 13 aces and 75 percent of his first serves compared to Shang’s 61 percent, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

The fourth seed had plenty of success when serving to Shang’s body, making it difficult for the left-hander to attack early in the rally. Thompson was rock solid from the baseline throughout the two-hour, 21-minute match, switching easily from defense to attack and remaining the more consistent player in the latter stages of the match.

The Sydney native survived the longest match in Atlanta tournament history yesterday, a three-hour, three-minute marathon against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Despite the short recovery, Thompson quickly bounced back to avenge this year’s Indian Wells loss to Shang and level their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1.

“I don’t know how I recovered after yesterday, but I showed some fighting spirit,” Thompson said.

The Australian will face Yoshihito Nishioka, who took advantage of two sneaky attacks to score in the final game of the match and break Arthur Rinderknech to complete a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory. Nishioka earned four breaks of serve and defended his second serve resolutely, winning 57% of second-serve points.

“It was very difficult to take his serve, which always put pressure on my own serve,” said the Japanese, world number 86, who spotted the 25-centimeter-tall Frenchman. “In the final (against Thompson), I expect tough games with long rallies. It will definitely be a mental battle.”

Nishioka earned his first Top 30 victory of the year against Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals, advancing to his sixth ATP Tour final (2-3), all on hardwood.