Argentine Juan Martin del Potro edged past local favourite and top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to reach the final of the Marseille Open on Saturday.
The fourth-seeded Del Potro eventually had too much pace for Tsonga, who bowed out after two hours 48 minutes, and will face either Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, the third seed, or France's Michael Llodra.
Following an early exchange of breaks, world number 10 Del Potro stole Tsonga's serve in the fifth game to claim the opening set in 50 minutes.
The second set went to serve, with Tsonga eventually winning the resulting tiebreak 11-9 after staving off a match point at 8-7.
Del Potro, however, took advantage of Tsonga's wayward shot selection early in the decider to break in the second game when the Frenchman netted a routine volley.
The Argentine wrapped it up after conceding only three points on his serve in the third set when Tsonga sent a backhand wide.
