Top seed Gael Monfils saved a match point before edging past American John Isner to reach the final of the Legg Mason Classic in Washington on Saturday.
The 24-year-old Frenchman, who has won three career ATP Tour titles but only one outside his native country, now has an opportunity to double that statistic after winning 6-4 3-6 7-6 in a match that finished at 01:15am local time following two rain delays.
"It was really tough to deal with -- to go on court then come back again. The weather was just like Wimbledon," Monfils told the official ATP Tour website.
The greatest match in tennis history
He added: "I have had a tough year. I had an injury and a new coach, so to come up strong again feels good."
Monfils will face Czech Radek Stepanek, the oldest player in the world's top 100, in the final.
The 32-year-old Stepanek, world-ranked 54, sealed his place with a comfortable 6-3 6-3 success over American Donald Young.
"It has been a year and a half since I was in a final, so definitely I'm very pleased about that," said Stepanek, who has won four career titles but has not reached a final since losing to Andy Roddick in Brisbane last year.
Meanwhile, top seed Vera Zvonareva will face third seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the final of the WTA Carlsbad event in San Diego, California, but both players had to come back from dropping their opening sets to progress.
Russian Zvonareva was pushed all the way by former world number one Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, taking two-and-a-half hours to claim a 5-7 6-4 6-4 success.
Meanwhile, Pole Radwanska looked to be heading out against second seed Andrea Petkovic.
However, the German was then hampered by a stomach virus, and Radwanska fought back to progress 4-6 6-0 6-4.
"I ate something wrong for lunch. I originally thought it was just a lack of energy, so I had a banana and thought it was going to get better, but actually it felt much worse," Petkovic told the official WTA Tour website.
Radwanska, who has been suffering from a shoulder injury, last reached a final when losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova here last year.
Meanwhile, Petkovic will move into the world's top 10 for the first time in her career on Monday, replacing Australian Samantha Stosur, despite her defeat.
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Monfils edges Isner in semi classic
Started by kaka2010, Aug 07 2011 09:29 PM
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