CARY, September 20, 2015

Two US-Americans made it to the final of the first edition of the US-$ 50,000 ATP Challenger Cary Tennis Championships.

Seventh seed Dennis Novikov rallied back from a set down to overcome the tournament’s number six from Great Britain Brydan Klein, winning 1-6, 7-5, 7-5. Novikov hit 12 aces and wide awake in the deciding moments when Klein was serving for the match in the tenth game of the third set but the 21-year-old US-American broke his opponent’s service for the third time. He gained another break in the twelfth game to seal victory in two hours and 15 minutes.

Rola vs Harrison

Novikov will take on fellow countryman Ryan Harrison in Sunday’s final. The 23-year-old from Texas also found his way back after being a set and a break down, winning 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 against Slovenia’s fourth seed Blaz Rola. Harrison, Cary’s fifth favourite, won 72% of his first service points and converted five of his eight break point chances to set an-all-US-American-final after one hour and 54 minutes.

Novikov and Harrison will clash for the second time on the tour. Novikov won the only previous meeting, which took place on the hard courts in Maui earlier this season, winning in three sets.