DELRAY BEACH, February 24, 2019

Daniel Evans will take on Radu Albot in the singles final of the Delray Beach Open by Vitacost.com. The British qualifier took down No. 2 seed and World No. 9 John Isner 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center.

Evans withstood 16 aces from the big-serving US-American, breaking his opponent three times to prevail after one hour and 32 minutes.

Qualifiers ➡️ Final

Dan Evans eliminates his third seed of the tournament to reach his first final since 2017 with the 3-6 6-2 6-3 upset over John Isner @DelrayBeachOpen. pic.twitter.com/uXztBYoZDT

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 23. Februar 2019

“You got to be so resilient in this sport, it’s so up and down. Obviously, my down was from own doing,” said Evans, who a year ago was still serving a one-year suspension from tennis because of a positive test for cocaine after having reached a career-high No. 48 ranking. “It could be injuries. Let’s say mine was a mental injury. You just keep believing. I could never imagine I’d be close to the top 100 in such a small amount of time.”

Evans is the first qualifier to reach the finals in Delray Beach since Ernests Gulbis in 2013.

Albot rallies past McDonald

Later in the day, Albot won 12 consecutive games after dropping the first set to defeat Mackenzie McDonald from the United States 3-6, 6-0, 6-0. The 29-year-old from Moldova capitalized on seven of his 15 break point chances to seal victory in one hour and 30 minutes.

🚨 Tweener alert 🚨@RaduAlbot #DBOpen pic.twitter.com/92v7aqg6wZ

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 24. Februar 2019

“I think a lot of players come back (from deficits). It’s tennis, you have to win two (sets), lose one (and) it’s a fight. This is an achievement that I’ve never done before,” Albot said.

If Albot defeats Evans, he will become the first Moldovan to win an ATP Tour title. The pair will meet for the first time.