Hunter Johnson advanced to the men’s singles final in Mesa with a 10-12, 12-10, 11-5 victory over Federico Staksrud in a match that had more drama off the 20x44 than on it.

The No. 4 seed came out in top form and raced out to a 9-2 lead in the opening game, but Staksrud came all the way back and even saved a game point before taking it 12-10.

In the second game, Johnson kept things close and earned a game point at 11-10. On that point, he hit a forehand passing shot that Staksrud called out. Johnson challenged, and the video replay referee ruled that the call would stand.

Shocked by the call, Johnson asked for Head Referee Don Stanley to take another look and make a ruling, which is within his rights.

Stanley ruled in favor Johnson and overturned Staksrud’s initial out call, which sent the match to a third game.

Early on in Game 3, Staksrud was given a technical warning for ball abuse. When he and Johnson switched sides with Johnson leading 6-2, Staksrud was given another technical violation for foul language.

This second technical warning resulted in Johnson being given a point, which increased his advantage to 7-2. Staksrud then proceeded to appeal to Stanley in hopes that the ruling of the second technical warning would be overturned.

When the ruling was upheld, he was assessed another technical warning for calling the Head Referee for a call that was not overturned, which awarded another point to Johnson to make it 8-2.

Once players returned to the court, Johnson was able to close out the match a few minutes later to advance to his second straight men’s singles final on the PPA Tour.

He explained how his prior victories against Staksrud gave him the confidence to right the ship after losing a big lead in the opening game.

“I just kept reminding myself that I got to 9-2 and that I could do it again. The experience and confidence that comes from having beaten him in the past helps me get over these tough matches just because when you’ve been in a situation before, you can take what you’ve learned and try to apply it to different situations down the road," he said.

Staksrud’s post-match comments took a different turn, as the top seed alleged that referees were biased against him because of his Argentinian heritage.

“It’s really difficult to win if I literally have to play against Hunter, as he’s a great player, and I also have to beat the refs. The refs are literally against me the whole time, so it’s tough. I don’t know, I think I just pay the price of being the non-American on the court. Honestly, that’s what it is,” he said. “Sometimes the line calls are 50/50, but today it wasn’t 50/50. He was making out calls on balls that were in, so I had to challenge literally just to get a point. So, I’m doing that and then calling balls out that actually are out, and then they’ll overturn in his favor, so it’s like I’m fighting against everybody. It’s ridiculous.”

Looking forward to the rest of the tournament, Johnson will play Ben Johns in the men’s singles final, while Staksrud will look to regroup for his mixed doubles match with Catherine Parenteau and men’s doubles match with Hayden Patriquin, which will both take place later Saturday afternoon.