Jannik Sinner underlined his dominance on hardcourts in the Asian swing by outlasting Australian third seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on Tuesday to reach his third straight China Open final.
In the title clash, the four-time Grand Slam winner will face American 19-year-old Learner Tien after former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev retired from their semi-final with what looked like cramp while trailing 7-5, 5-7, 0-4.
"I think (Medvedev) was cramping, I've been there and it's not fun. All the best to him," Tien said. "It's not how you want to come through a match but I'm happy to be in the final.
"Excited to play Sinner. I think any time you have a chance to play one of the top guys I think it's a great experience and I'm really looking forward to it."
Medvedev, who had battled from two breaks down to edge the opening set, struggled physically before letting a 5-3 lead slip in the second.
Tien fought back to force a decider, and the Russian, hampered by what seemed like cramp, pulled the plug early in the third, sending the American through to his first ATP tour final.
Medvedev also had a heated exchange with the umpire after receiving a code violation for failing to play a return in the third set before calling for the match supervisor.
Fast start
Sinner made a typically fast start in his bid to secure an 11th straight victory over De Minaur, breaking the world number eight to love for a 4-2 lead, but he had to battle hard in the next game to hold serve.
The 2023 champion had no trouble wrapping up the first set from there but ran into trouble early in the next, appearing to struggle physically at times, before tight holds helped him go level at 3-3 and then 4-4.
"I have one night to recover. I'm going to be fine," Sinner said.
"In the finals, you have even more adrenaline and more will to play as best as you can. I'm looking forward to it; finals are very special.
"It's another final for me this season. It's a great result again. Let's see who it's going to be."
De Minaur persevered to win only his second ever set against the Italian with a gutsy performance in the 10th game, but Sinner regrouped in the decider, breaking in the first game and holding off his opponent to reach a ninth straight final on hardcourts.
"I felt like it (the level) was very high," Sinner added.
"Many great rallies, many chances both ways. I had my chances in the second set, couldn't take them. He had more chances, so it was quite an even match.
"In the third set I tried to raise my level. I broke him very early, which gave me a bit of confidence to serve better at times. I'm very happy about today. It was a different match than usual against him."