Hunter Johnson became the first player to book his spot in the men’s singles final with a 12-10, 2-11, 11-2 victory over No. 5 seed Pablo Tellez.

Johnson overcame a 4-8 deficit and saved two game points to steal the opening game and get on the board first.

Tellez again jumped out to a big lead in Game 2, but no comeback for Johnson was in store this time.

Helped by deep, heavy serves that kept Johnson from following his returns up to the kitchen line, Tellez earned an 8-0 advantage that he used to take the second game and even the contest.

It was all Johnson from there, however; the former SMU tennis standout caught fire on his third shots and hardly gave Tellez a chance to make the final game competitive.

“The biggest thing was just trying to get some points on my serve,” Johnson said of the effort. “[Pablo] was serving big and keeping me back, so I wasn’t able to come in pretty much at all off my return in the second game. In the third, I just tried to have the ball in my hand for as long as possible.”

The No. 4 seed certainly made the most of his serving opportunities down the stretch, as it took him only four service possessions to reach eleven points and close out the match.

Johnson will look to capture his second title of the year in Sunday’s final, where he’ll face either No. 1 seed Federico Staksrud or No. 30 seed Adam Harvey.