Gabe Tardio continued his impressive singles run in North Carolina with a 4-11, 13-11, 11-7 victory over top-seeded Federico Staksrud.

After dropping the first game, Tardio began finding success with his short, angled drops that helped him gain the upper hand in cat-and-mouse rallies at the kitchen line.

That helped the No. 13 seed earn a game point at 10-5 in Game 2. From there, though, Staksrud scored six in a row to give himself a match point at 11-10.

Not deterred by the threat of defeat, Tardio saved that match point and went on to score three in a row to force a decider.

In that third game, Tardio found himself trailing 4-6 on the side switch, but he went on to score seven of the match’s final eight points to advance to his second singles final of the 2025 season.

The 19-year-old thanked Ben Johns and Jessie Irvine—his partners in men’s doubles and mixed doubles, respectively—for giving him tips that helped him come away with what might be the best victory of his career in singles.

“[Ben and Jessie] made the difference, really. I think in the first game I wasn’t playing things right, so Ben came over and taught me a couple things, and that definitely made the difference. So, thank you to Ben and Jessie for always being on my bench and being by my side. This one is for them.”

Tardio will face Roscoe Bellamy in Sunday’s final.

Roscoe Bellamy stole the show in the second semifinal with his 3-11, 12-10, 11-3 victory over No. 17 seed Zane Ford.

Interestingly enough, this match followed essentially the same sequence as Tardio’s earlier win over Staksrud.

After dropping the first game, Bellamy got off to a strong start in Game 2 to the tune of a 5-0 lead. Ford fought all the way back and actually had a match point at 10-9, but Bellamy held his nerve force a decider.

In that third game, the No. 10 seed cruised to the triumph behind an expert display of coverage and lateral movement at the kitchen line when hitting volleys.

There was a brief delay with Ford calling a medical timeout after injuring his right ankle at 9-3, but Bellamy closed out the win a few moments later to advance to his first career final on the PPA Tour.

“I really just had to focus on execution,” he said of turning things around in Games 2 and 3. “I had a gameplan going into the match, but I think I started out a little nervous and not really playing my game. I wasn’t executing properly, so I just told myself to act like it’s practice and to just do what I’ve done a million times before. I tried to follow the game plan and tried to fight as hard as I could, and luckily things went my way.”

We’ll see if the former UCLA Bruin can strike gold for the first time in North Carolina.