Atlanta, United States, 28 July 2024 | Vivienne Christie

A top-30 singles breakthrough is in sight for Jordan Thompson, after the Australian survived his second three-set contest in as many days to progress to the Atlanta Open final.

Thompson defeated Jerry Shang 6-3 4-6 6-3 to earn the opportunity to contest a fourth career final at the ATP 250 tournament.

Should he lift a second singles trophy on the hard courts of Atlanta – having also done so in Los Cabos earlier this season – the 30-year-old Thompson will enter the world’s top 30.

Following earlier title runs for Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur, he could also become the fourth Australian player to triumph at the Atlanta Open in the past eight years.

The fourth-seeded Thompson worked hard to secure victory over the 19-year-old qualifier, eventually doing so after two hours and 22 minutes.

Final ✌️Bound

Jordan Thompson overcomes Shang 6-3 4-6 6-3 to book his place in tomorrow's final 🎉@ATLOpenTennis pic.twitter.com/dk54GlRaFH

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 27, 2024

It followed a marathon quarterfinal win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, with their three-hour, three-minute quarterfinal the longest match in the tournament’s history.

“It’s been tough but so far, so good,” said Thompson, whose renowned fitness has come into play in some searing Atlanta conditions.

“I’ve had long gruelling matches, but I think I’m maybe one of the fitter guys out there, so as long as I stay healthy and not injured, I feel like I can play in the heat and tough conditions.”

As he prepares to face either Arthur Rinderknech or Yoshihito Nishioka in tomorrow’s final, Thompson will also draw confidence from some solid serving throughout the tournament.

Having served 21 aces against Davidovich Fokina, he fired another 13 against Shang.

With a first-serve success rate of 75 per cent, Thompson also won 78 per cent of those points.

“I served really well today. I only was broken one time, held off a couple of games,” he commented in his post-match interview.

“I felt like my serve really kept me in it.”

It continues a season of impressive progress for Thompson, who peaked at world No.32 after his title breakthrough in Los Cabos in February.

The Sydneysider defeated No.1 seed Alexander Zverev and No.4 seed Casper Ruud to complete that winning campaign.

He’ll aim to maintain that form against Nishioka, whom he is yet to defeat in four previous matches.

Confidence for Thompson will perhaps come from his hard-fought win over Shang, who defeated the Australian in the first round of Indian Wells earlier this year.

“That was a bad day at the office for me,.” Thompson reasoned.  “He played a good match that day … that can happen where one guy’s on and one guy’s off ,but I played a whole lot better today and made a really great match of it. It came down to the wire and eventually I got there.”

Follow Tennis Australia on Facebook, Instagram and X for updates of Aussies in action.

Find your way to play: Visit play.tennis.com.au to get out on court and have some fun!