Ivan Ljubicic extended his brilliant indoor run by outgunning top seed Andy Roddick 6-3, 7-5 with an impressive display to reach the Paris Masters final on Saturday.
The towering Croatian, who has won 20 of his last 22 matches, will meet the unfancied Tomas Berdych in Sunday's showpiece.
World number 50 Berdych, who had upset three seeded players on his way to the last four, advanced with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over fellow-Czech Radek Stepanek, the eighth seed and a losing finalist as a qualifier here last year.
Sixth seed Ljubicic will play his second successive Masters Series final after Madrid last month, where he took Rafael Nadal to five sets.
World number three Roddick, who was never really in contention against his confident opponent, complained about a sore back and said he was not sure whether he would be able to enter the Masters Cup.
"I don't know," Roddick said when asked whether the injury might force him to pull out of the eight-man season finale from Nov. 13 in Shanghai.
"I hope not but, obviously, I'm not as optimistic as I was two days ago. I'll go back, we'll treat it and if I feel like I can go, I'll go. If not, then I won't."
The American, making many unforced errors, trailed his opponent 3-0 in the opening set. Ljubicic, relying on his strong serve and playing close to perfection, wrapped up the set with an ace after 25 minutes.
FOREHAND WINNER
The second set was tighter until Ljubicic broke his opponent with a superb forehand winner to lead 6-5 and serve for the match.
The 26-year-old Ljubicic, who fired 15 aces to Roddick's 10, sealed victory with a cross-court winner on his first match point after 64 minutes.
"I played a great match," he said proudly. "I was really confident and relaxed on all shots.
"I did feel he had a little back problem but I had problems with my knee.
"It was a strange match, both of us knowing the other guy was not fully fit."
The other semi-final was surprisingly one-sided at first, the 20-year-old Berdych winning five games in a row to take the opening set in 20 minutes.
Stepanek recovered to win the second set but the combative Berdych was back on top in the decisive set.
He broke his opponent in the fourth game and clinched the match in 82 minutes after firing a service winner on his second match point.
Berdych, who won his lone title on clay in Palermo last year and reached the final in Bastad earlier this year, had never progressed so far in a major tournament.
"It will be tough against Ljubicic," he said.
"Thinking about tricks to beat him wouldn't help. I have to worry about my own game. I'll do my best and we'll see what happens."
