NEW South Wales teenager Blake Mott continued a dream week at the Launceston International on Saturday, executing a flawless baseline game to topple third seed Saketh Myneni and advance to Sunday's final.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After upsetting pre-tournament favourite Stephane Robert in the quarter-finals, the 19-year-old wildcard produced what he described as "some of the best tennis I've ever played" to complete a mature 6-1, 6-4 victory.
"It's been one of the best tournaments of my life, I'm playing some great tennis but really enjoying the moment and thriving on it, so for me, it's very special here," Mott said.
"He's such an aggressive player and can throw different things at you.
"I backed my speed to the ball and I feel like that game plan worked out pretty well."
After Myneni made an ominous start to the match by holding to love with a succession of big serves, few would have predicted him to then serve two double faults in his next service game to surrender a break of serve.
Even fewer would have predicted the carnage that followed, as Mott's dominance from the back of the court was matched by an increasing number of unforced errors from the Myneni racquet, leading the Australian to take the first set 6-1.
The second set proved more of a grind, with Myneni rediscovering rhythm on his serve to fight his way back into the match and break the Australian's serve for the first time to lead 4-2.
With Myneni approaching the net with increasingly regularity, Mott stayed calm to produce three spectacular passing shots and restore the break before holding serve to go up 5-4.
"He's got such a good serve so for me trying to return and him breaking me obviously there's a lot of emotions going through but I felt like he was getting some returning pressure on him," Mott said.
"I thought if I just stayed with and hung with him through some tough service games that under pressure, he might not do as many good serves."
Serving to stay in the match, Myneni saved three match points but could not save a fourth, sending Mott through to his first competitive final.
In the second men's semi-final, Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev shattered any hopes of an all-Australian final by defeating seventh seed Luke Saville in straight sets.
Saville required assistance from the trainer several times throughout the first set and the tournament's eighth seed took full advantage, closing out the set 6-3.
The second set was a much tighter affair, with Golubev eventually closing the match out in a tie-break to book a place in Sunday's final.