Thiem v Tomic in Acapulco final

Australian Bernard Tomic will take on rising star Dominic Thiem in the final of the Acapulco Open after the Austrian downed American Sam Querrey 6-2 6-2 in their semifinal.

Querrey is known for his powerful serve, but the fourth-seeded Thiem negated that weapon on Friday night with strong returning and used excellent defence and potent and accurate ball-striking, particularly on the backhand side, to control the baseline.

Thiem broke serve in the opening game of the match and again in the seventh game to take the first set in 28 minutes. The second set unfolded in similar fashion, with the Austrian grabbing service breaks in the first and fifth games to the chagrin of the Californian player.

On Saturday night, he will be seeking his fifth career title and first on a surface other than clay.

Tomic earlier rallied to defeat Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 1-6 6-4 6-3 in Friday’s first semifinal at the 500-level hardcourt event.

Tomic, the No.5 seed, was outclassed in the first set by Dolgopolov, who dominated the early going with his speed, strong serving and precise returning.

But the Australian lifted his game to a much higher level in the second set and notched a crucial service break in the ninth game that turned the match in his favour.

Tomic’s return game improved even more in the third set, in which he broke Dolgopolov three times and won the vast majority of the Ukrainian’s second-serve points.

On Saturday, the 23-year-old Australian will look to add to his tally of three ATP titles, all of them ATP 250s coming on hard courts.

In women’s singles, American Sloane Stephens, the No.2 seed, raced to a 6-2 6-0 victory Friday over Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer and will next take on the Slovak Republic’s Dominika Cibulkova, a 6-3 6-3 winner over American Christina McHale, in Saturday evening’s final.