Dan Evans is through to his first ATP 500 final after a straight-set victory over Grigor Dimitrov in Washington DC.
The British number two beat the Bulgarian 6-3 7-6 (7-4) and will play Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in the final.
He becomes the the first British player to reach the final in Washington since Andy Murray in 2006.
The 33-year-old will hope to claim a second career title to add to the ATP 250 title he won in Melbourne in 2021.
Evans said he felt tired in his semi-final after playing twice on Friday, defeating Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko after rain had cancelled their match on Thursday before knocking out home favourite and second seed Frances Tiafoe.
“It was so hard after yesterday putting in such a big effort,” Evans said in his on-court interview.
“Coming back today, it was really important for me to not roll over and have a bad performance. The last few months, that is what has happened a little bit.”
Dmitrov fired 24 winners to just nine from Evans, but the hard-hitting world number 20 came undone with 30 unforced errors.
The ninth seed has returned to form this week, after defeats in his opening matches at Queen’s Club, Wimbledon and the Atlanta Open.
Meanwhile, 12th seed Griekspoor, who is chasing a third title of the season, came from a set down to beat American top seed Taylor Fritz 3-6 6-3 6-2 for his first win over a player in the world top 10.
Tsitsipas wins first title in 14 months
World number five Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed his first title in 14 months as he defeated Alex de Minaur in the final of the Mifel Tennis Open in Mexico.
Tsitsipas beat Australia’s De Minaur 6-3 6-4 to capture his 10th career title and his first since winning the Mallorca Open in June 2022.
The Greek top seed, 24, dominated the first set and took an early break in the second before the 19th-ranked De Minaur pulled level in the sixth game.
However, Tsitispas broke again to lead 5-4 and he served out for the match in the next game.
