Nice, France (SportsNetwork.com) - Fourth-seeded Argentine Leonardo Mayer and unseeded Austrian Dominic Thiem will be the combatants in Saturday's final at the Nice Open, a final clay-court French Open tune-up.
Friday's semifinals saw the promising 21-year-old Thiem oust second-seeded American John Isner 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in 87 minutes and Mayer handle rising young Croatian teenager Borna Coric 6-4, 6-3 on the red clay at Nice Lawn Tennis Club.
Both Thiem and Isner struck 11 aces on Day 6, but it was the Austrian who converted his second match-point opportunity to advance.
The 28-year-old world No. 24 Mayer is 1-1 in his career finals, with both coming last year, including a title in Hamburg, where he topped Thiem in a second-round affair.
Thiem will appear in only his second ATP final, having finished as a runner-up in Kitzbuhel in his native Austria last year.
The newest Nice champion will earn $89,000.
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