The fourth-seeded Johnson beat two former champions, Fernando Verdasco (2014) in the quarterfinals and American Davis Cup teammate Jack Sock (2015) in the semifinals, to reach his first final on U.S. soil. Johnson was hobbled by cramps serving at the end of the third set, but — coaxing a backhand return error from Bellucci on a serve he barely hit — was able to get off the court and receive a brisk right-thigh massage from an ATP trainer.