Gallatin, TN’s Tennys Sandgren hit a career high of No. 47 after reaching his first ATP World Tour final in Houston.

Sandgren battled deep into the final set against American Steve Johnson at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-4. Along the way he won in straight sets over big-serving vet Ivo Karlovic and rising Brazilian Nicholas Kicker.

 

"I feel like I'm better at engaging myself when things don't go right," Sandgren added about the Karolvic match. "I don't have a lot of experience at this stage and against [Karlovic's serve], you just guess. You can only take a stab at it and guess. I tried to read where he liked to go. 

 

The former Univ. of Tennessee Volunteer has had a resurgent year at age 26. His most notable results came Down Under when he battled his way big names at the Australian Open He dispatched three-time Grand Slam champ Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thien, ranked No. 5. ADVERTISEMENT Hyeon Chung eliminated him in the quarterfinals.

 

Last September, Sandgren was ranked out of the top 100 and was No. 228 in November 2016.