John Isner ousted top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-3) on Friday to stay on track to retain his Winston-Salem tennis title.

Isner, seeded third in the US Open tune-up event, will face second-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in Saturday’s final.

Berdych defeated seventh-seeded American Sam Querrey 6-4 6-3 in the semi-finals on Friday.

“I’m very, very happy to be back in the final,” said Isner, who prefers one more day of tournament action to an early arrival on the practice courts of Flushing Meadows, where the US Open begins on Monday.

Isner broke Tsonga once to take the opening set and the Frenchman broke Isner once to win the second frame and level the match.

Serving at 5-6 in the deciding third set, Tsonga saved two match points – the first with an ace up the middle – but finally couldn’t withstand the towering American, who belted 24 aces and wrapped up the victory in two hours and 13 minutes.

Berdych, who accepted a late wildcard entry into the tournament, broke Querrey five times en route to victory in one hour and 39 minutes.

Querrey delivered 18 aces but also had five double-faults.

In all, the match featured eight breaks of serve. Berdych, ranked seventh in the world, had 18 break-point chances against the big-serving American.

Berdych said the outcome of the final would depend largely on how he handled Isner’s big serve.

“It’s definitely going to be the key to the match – the decider for sure,” Berdych said. “He’s playing at home, he wants to win as bad as me, so we’ll see. It should be a close match.”