Reilly Opelka notched his 100th tour-level win after victory over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard sealed his passage into the Brisbane International final.

The American prevailed 6-3 7-6 (7-4) after 85 minutes to set up a showdown with Jiri Lehecka in the championship match.

Opelka was fresh from taking out Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals, and built on that momentum by breaking his opponent in the second game, on the way to taking the opening set.

The second set remained on serve – with Opelka winning 85% of his first-serve points and saving all four break points he faced – and headed to a tie-break, where the 27-year-old held his nerve to advance to his seventh ATP final, and first since 2022.

Standing in his way of a fifth ATP title is Lehecka, who dethroned Grigor Dimitrov after the reigning champion was forced to retire injured.

The Czech, who claimed his maiden ATP crown in Adelaide last year, was 6-4 4-4 to the good and had not faced a break point when the contest was brought to a premature conclusion.

"The first thing is that you come here to Australia from Europe, so immediately you feel good," said the 23-year-old, who has dropped just a single set this week. "That's the first thing, which is very important.

"It doesn't matter if it's Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney – all these cities are nice. The people are nice. The tournaments are very well-organised, which helps you a lot through the first days of the year."

Meanwhile, at the Hong Kong Tennis Open, Kei Nishikori advanced to his first ATP final in six years following the withdrawal of semi-final opponent Shang Juncheng through illness.

The former US Open runner-up will play Alexandre Muller in the championship match, after the Frenchman saw off Jaume Munar.