American wild-card Francis Tiafoe reached his first career ATP final with a 7-5, 6-4 semifinal victory over Canada’s Denis Shapovalov on Saturday night in the Delray Beach Open.
The 91st-ranked Tiafoe will play Peter Gojowczyk of Germany, a 7-6 (3), 6-3 winner over American Steve Johnson in the afternoon.
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Tiafoe and the 64th-ranked Gojowczyk, who won his first title at Metz, France, last year, have never faced each other in a tour-level match. They are 1-1 in non tour-level meetings.
The semifinal was Tiafoe’s second time on court Saturday. In the early afternoon, Tiafoe finished off Hyeon Chung of South Korea 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 on an eighth match point in a rain-delayed quarterfinal.
Tiafoe failed to take advantage of three match points Friday night before the match was stopped.