Arnaud Clement reached the Legg Mason Classic semi-finals by stunning third seed Lleyton Hewitt 7-6, 6-4 Friday, his first victory over the Australian in eight attempts.
Clement will next face unseeded Marat Safin, a 7-6, 7-6 winner over South African Wesley Moodie, on Saturday.
British teenager Andy Murray, who crushed American Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-4, will meet Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the other semi-final.
Tursunov overwhelmed Tim Henman 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals, ending the possibility of an eagerly anticipated all-British match-up between Murray and his boyhood hero.
Clement's triumph over Hewitt was a welcome lift for the Frenchman whose overall record this year is just 13-14.
"It's very special for me, having lost to him the first seven matches," said the 28-year-old Clement whoo is ranked 57th in the world.
"We have similar games but he is always a little bit better than me. We've played a couple of tough matches but he was always a little better at the important moments.
"Today was different."
Clement raced into a 4-1 lead in the first set before Hewitt rallied to take the next four games. The Australian, however, failed to close out the set, losing his serve at 5-4.
"I fought so hard to get back," said the 12th-ranked Hewitt. "If I could have gotten that first set at 6-4 under my belt then I would have had a lot of momentum coming back from 4-1.
"I gave him a little extra wind out there to hang in there."
Clement refused to allow the former world number one into the first-set tiebreak, taking it 7-1.
Clement broke Hewitt in the fifth game of the second set to take a 3-2 lead and serve out to take the match.
"I had so many chances in the first set," Hewitt said. "I had 12 break points. Against the best players, you've got to take those chances when you get them."
More from rediff