John Isner falls short

John Isner's push for the Open Nice Cote d'Azur crown fell short on Friday as he lost his semi-final clash with world number 42 Dominic Thiem 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

The American had been left as the top seed following the withdrawal of Gilles Simon and looked on course to at least contest the final.

However, after forcing the first set to a tie-break following a late break of serve only to be edged out, Isner lost the opening three games of the second.

Isner never recovered, winning just four points on Thiem's serve for the duration of the second set.

Thiem's reward for seeing off Isner is a showdown with fourth seed Leonardo Mayer - a 6-4 6-3 winner over Borna Coric - in just his second final on the ATP World Tour, having lost on home soil to David Goffin last year.

"It's going to be a little bit different than last year, when I played in front of my home crowd," he said. "Tomorrow I will be more experienced.

"You don't play a final every week, so I am really happy. But if I lose tomorrow, I won't win the tournament. I will do every I can to win my first title."

Coric lost to Mayer for the second successive year at this tournament, although their 2014 meeting was in the first round.