Czech Tomas Berdych stunned second seed Andy Roddick 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 to reach to the final of the Japan Open on Saturday.
The ninth seed will face a player who has won 29 of his previous 30 matches in Sunday’s final in the shape of Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro.
Fifth seed Del Potro beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the first semifinal at the $969 000 Tokyo tournament.
Roddick, one of several players still chasing a spot in the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, took the first set on a tiebreak after slamming a 10th ace past Berdych.
Berdych struck back in the second, breaking Roddick’s serve in the 11th game and then restored parity by forcing the American into a wild forehand.
Roddick jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the decider but the former US Open champion faltered while serving for the match at 5-3 and was made to pay.
Berdych pushed the set to another tiebreak and the Czech quickly raced to a 6-1 advantage, wrapping up proceedings on his third match point with his 17th ace.
Fifth seed Del Potro, who recently helped his country book their place in the Davis Cup final, took just over two hours to see off Gasquet, last year’s beaten finalist in Tokyo.
A double-fault from fourth seed Gasquet handed Del Potro a 3-2 lead and the Argentine wrapped up the first set by breaking again with a fizzing forehand down the line.
Gasquet broke early in the second before levelling the match by threading a forehand past Del Potro’s desperate lunge.
But it was Del Potro who held his nerve, the 20-year-old securing his place in the final when Gasquet blazed a forehand wide.
A fifth title of the year would move Del Potro into the coveted eighth spot in the year-long rankings and in line for a place at the next month’s prestigious Masters Cup.
Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have already qualified for the eight-man Shanghai shootout.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark will face Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi in the final of the women’s tournament after both won their matches on Saturday. – Reuters