Canadian Milos Raonic advanced to the final of the Japan Open for the third straight year with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over France's Gilles Simon on Saturday.
Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., won the first set and then had to remain focused for half an hour as the roof of the Ariake Colosseum was shut due to drizzle as a typhoon moves towards Japan.
Raonic has yet to win the Japan Open title, losing last year in the final to Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro and in 2012 to Japan's Kei Nishikori.
Later on Saturday, the fourth-seeded Nishikori was playing Germany's Benjamin Becker in the second semifinal with the winner to face Raonic on Sunday.
The win puts Raonic in his first-ever ATP World Tour Final, an elite eight-man season-ending tournament to be held next month in London, England.
The 23-year-old Raonic currently holds the eighth and final spot in the ATP World Tour Final. He served as an alternate in the event a year ago after barely missing a place.
Raonic improved to a perfect 3-0 record over Simon, a former top 20 player now ranked 37th.
Raonic was impressive in the victory, starting the match with two aces in the opening game and breaking for 5-1 in the first set.
A game later, after 31 minutes on court, the Wimbledon semifinalist had the set in the bag only to find himself off court for the 30 minutes it took to close the roof and start the warm-up again.
Simon steadied in the second set, but was soon broken to give Raonic a 3-2 lead after a double fault.
Raonic earned the win with his 11th ace of the afternoon to secure three match points. Simon saved one before going down to defeat.
Raonic ended without facing a break point while breaking his opponent three times. He improved his 2014 record to 32-13 with a title in Washington and three high-profile semis at Rome, Wimbledon and Cincinnati.
Raonic will be playing in his 12th career ATP final as he bids for his seventh trophy. He's reached the quarter-finals or better at 11 of his 14 tournaments this season.
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