American Andy Roddick set up a final showdown with French teenager Gael Monfils at the Lyon Grand Prix after defeating Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 7-6 on Saturday.
Top-seed Roddick, who has not been broken all week, struggled for 99 minutes before taming local favourite Santoro.
Monfils reached his third ATP final with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over compatriot Sebastien Grosjean.
"I knew I had to take a good start to beat Sebastien. I had to put pressure on him early in the match," said the 19-year-old Monfils, who won in Sopot and reached the final in Metz.
Monfils, ranked 36th in the world, proved solid enough on the baseline to break Grosjean's serve once and wrap up the first set.
Former French number one Grosjean lifted his game in the second set and led 4-1 before Monfils reacted with a string of winning points.
"I started to fight on every point as I had the feeling he felt tired," Monfils said. "I played a little better than he did and I was a bit more lucky in my strikes too.
"This is my third final this season and I'm really happy as it's certainly the most important one for me," he added.
"The match against Andy on Sunday is going to be a tough one too.
"People say that I have tried to emulate his serve but it's not true. I reviewed video of games when I was 11 and I have always served the same way."
World number three Roddick delivered 23 aces to overcome Santoro and will be aiming to win his fifth title this year on Sunday.
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