Dan Evans of Great Britain is into his first final of 2016 on the Challenger circuit, as he defeated Japanese sixth seed Tatsumo Ito in three sets 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
The Briton played an exceptional game in sets one and three, that his higher ranked opponent could not cope with. Evans broke three times in the first and twice in the third, dropping serve just once in those two sets combined. There was a dip in the second, as Ito had success attacking the Evans second serve, but the Briton rebounded to pull away in the third.
If Edmund were to defeat his semi-final opponent Tim Smyczek, as the seeding implies he is expected to, then it would result in a fascinating first career meeting between two British players. The stakes would be high as well, as Edmund will likely break back into the Top 100 even if he were to lose to Smyczek, but the deeper into this tournament he goes will determine just how high he climbs. Evans meanwhile, has the chance to move very close to his career-high ranking of 144 if he were to win the title. He would then be roughly one more Challenger title away from making the Top 100 for the first time.
First of course, Edmund has the difficult task of trying to oust defending champion Smyczek, who has four titles and nine career finals in American Challengers. It will be a first career meeting between Edmund and Smyczek.
