Jordan Thompson through to second final of 2024 in Atlanta

Jordan Thompson’s breakthrough season continued on Saturday in Atlanta, with the Australian defeating Shang Juncheng to make his second final of the year at the ATP 250 event.

Thompson prevailed 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 over the 19-year-old Chinese player, sending down 13 aces and making 75% of first serves in the three-set victory.

The 30-year-old is now just one win away from cracking the world’s top 30 for the first time in his career.

He plays No.86 Yoshihito Nishioka in the final on Sunday, and is an odds-on favourite with tennis bookmakers to take out the title.

Thompson impresses after Friday marathon

Thompson himself was surprised to have backed up so well against Juncheng, considering his match on Friday against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The Aussie played for more than three hours against the Spaniard, edging him 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 to make the semi-finals in Atlanta.

“I don’t know how I recovered from yesterday, but I showed some fight,” he declared after the match.

“I served really well today. I only was broken one time, held off a couple of games.

“I felt like my serve really kept me in it.”

The world No.41 will have his work cut out for him in the final, with Nishioka successfully breaking Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech’s serve four times to make his way to the tournament’s deciding match.

Berrettini backs up brilliantly

Elsewhere on the ATP Tour, Matteo Berrettini backed up his title in Gstaad last week with another trophy this weekend.

The Italian now has three titles since returning from injury in April, with his most recent triumph coming on Saturday in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

The win sees Berrettini, a former world No.6 and Wimbledon finalist who has been plagued by injury the past two years, return to the world’s top 40 on Monday.

He was ineligible to compete at the Olympics due to his low ranking, so he will now head to North America for the hardcourt swing, where he is emerging as a dark horse contender for the US Open.

Marantelli Bet already has Berrettini at $34 to win the year’s final Grand Slam, odds that are only heading in one direction if he continues to pick up titles at this pace.

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