AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP)—American John Isner advanced to the Heineken Open final Friday with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over eighth-seeded Albert Montanes of Spain.
Isner will play France’s Arnaud Clement in Saturday’s final. Clement defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the other semifinal.
Isner, who beat Montanes in their one previous meeting last year in Auckland, took the lead in just over 20 minutes with his opponent double-faulting on set point.
The 24-year-old Isner advanced to his first ATP final since 2007 at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, where he was making just his second tour-level appearance. That week, he had five straight wins in third-set tiebreakers before losing to Andy Roddick.
“That was really my first tournament out and I’d never been in that situation and I played a guy that had been there numerous times,” Isner said.
“This time I’m a lot more prepared, I’m a lot better player and I really deserve to be at this stage, whereas before it kind of just came out of nowhere and I was ahead of my learning curve then.”
Last season, Isner posted a personal-best 27 match wins to rise more than 100 places in the year-end ATP rankings. He entered the 2010 season ranked a career-high No. 33.