Player 40 of the world ranking will be Rafael Nadal's opponent to determine the champion of the Mexican Open Tennis. American Sam Querrey continued his dream tournament and defeated Australian Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals (3-6, 6-1, and 7-5), the executioner of Novak Djokovic, to become the first American to compete for El Guaje in 24 editions of the tournament.

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Querrey, who reached the semifinals in Acapulco last year, has eliminated the fifth seed, Belgian David Goffin, the fourth seed, Austrian Dominic Thiem, and the sixth seed, Kyrgios, to earn his ticket to the final. He will seek his ninth ATP title against Nadal, whom he has never defeated in four previous matches.

The American had to come back to reach the final. In the first set, he was easily surpassed by the 21-year-old Australian, who once again confirmed that he is capable of going up and down in the same match.

The match had a scarcity of rallies, both players relied on their serve, the best weapon they had shown during the tournament, which resulted in a slow-paced match.

The difference would be in the breaks, and the first to achieve it was Kyrgios, who in the seventh game had a great return, which caused his opponent's error, to take the advantage at 4-3. He held his serve and in the next game had two set points, he achieved it on the first one because Querrey couldn't find his serve.

But the American feels comfortable in Acapulco, and the big stages don't weigh on him, as he showed last year when he eliminated Djokovic in the third round of Wimbledon.

The American found the quick break at the start of the second set, where Kyrgios missed the backhand, and Querrey took the lead.

He gradually recovered his serve, while his opponent lost control, making mistakes with easy drop shots and forehands, which gifted another break to the American when he missed a simple slice. Nick didn't have much desire to prolong the second set and again gave up his serve to decide everything in the third.

The decisive set could have gone either way. They arrived tied at 5-5, although the Australian, who called the doctor at the beginning of the set, was walking on thin ice. Querrey had found his serve and was hitting impossible forehands for his opponent.

With 6-5, the American put the pressure on his rival, who couldn't resist and conceded two break opportunities. Querrey hit a drive that gave him the victory and the pass to the final, where Nadal awaits him. In a tournament with five members of the Top 10 in the draw, the world number 40 will play the decisive match because he has had one of the weeks of his life.