Johnson To Go For ATP Trifecta In Winston-Salem

Steve Johnson will have a chance at a rare ATP World Tour trifecta on Saturday at the Winston-Salem Open. The American, who beat Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to advance to the final, will try to become the first player in 2018 to win a title on three different surfaces.

Johnson won the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship title in Houston (clay) in April and the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open (grass) last month.

The 28-year-old saved six of seven break points and won 52 per cent of his second-serve points against the 2016 champion to reach his third final of the season. “I thought I played really well from the ground. I played smart,” Johnson said.

The eighth seed will face Russian Daniil Medvedev, who breezed past Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-1 in only 65 minutes.

Medvedev, a semi-finalist the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals, won almost 75 per cent of his service points and teed off on Daniel’s second serve, winning 63 per cent of those points.

The Russian will try to win his second ATP World Tour title after capturing his maiden crown in January at the Sydney International. “It’s a great feeling,” Medvedev said. “I just did what I had to do. I’m happy to go through.”

Medvedev leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-1, including both of their hard-court matches.