DELRAY BEACH – Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic reached the final of the ATP’s Delray Beach International on Saturday with a 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) victory over Israel’s Dudi Sela.
The 26-year-old Matosevic, ranked 173rd in the world, was appearing in his first career ATP tour semi-final and became the first qualifier to reach the final at Delray Beach since Evgeny Korolev, who was runner-up to Mardy Fish in 2009.
Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen won the title in Sydney in January as a qualifier.
Sela was playing his first ATP semi-final since Chennai in January of 2010 but couldn’t book his second career final.
Matosevic awaits the winner of the evening semi-final between top seed John Isner of the United States and South African seventh seed Kevin Anderson.