Ben Johns secured the second spot in the men’s singles final with an 11-8, 12-10 victory over No. 3 seed Connor Garnett.

It looked like Johns would sprint to the win when he got up 9-5 in Game 2 after taking the first, but Garnett stormed back and had a chance to extend the match with game point at 10-9.        Johns held his nerve, though, and staved off the game point before eventually closing out the contest in two games.

The No. 2 seed spoke about the importance of experience when it comes to closing out matches.

“When things get tight, it helps to have been in that situation many times before,” he said. “It’s easy to get tight, and the more you’ve been in those situations, the less tight you tend to be.”

Johns will face Hunter Johnson on Sunday, as he pursues gold in his first singles tournament of 2025.

He gave some insight into the challenges that Johnson presents as an opponent.

“I would say he definitely has the best passing shots on tour, where sometimes he’s gonna strike three or four lines in a row and there’s really nothing you can do about that,” Johns mentioned. “It’s gonna be a bit of a mental effort to just kind of weather the storm if and when that happens.”

Johns earned an 11-9, 11-5 victory in their most recent matchup in the final of the Virginia Beach Cup last October.