Third seed Guillermo Coria set up the first ever all-Argentine final at the French Open when he ended the hopes of Briton Tim Henman with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, 7-5 win to reach his first Grand Slam final on Friday.
Coria, who lost in the semi-finals last year, recovered from a set and a break down and will now meet unseeded Gaston Gaudio, who beat another Argentine, David Nalbandian, 6-3, 7-6, 6-0.
"It's a childhood dream to be in the final," Coria said. "We are guaranteed an Argentine to win the tournament.
"He played really well, took his chances at the net and the crowd really helped him out (in the fourth set). It was a fantastic battle."
Henman left the court to cheers from the Roland Garros crowd having offered them some of the finest attacking tennis of the tournament.
"It has been a great fortnight for me," Henman said.
"I started the match really well but had a difficult period in the middle and had my chances at the end. That's the way it goes, that's sport."
For just over an hour, it looked as if ninth seed Henman, who had never previously been past round three in Paris, would pull off a huge shock as he served and volleyed his way to a 6-3, 4-2 lead.
Thrown out of his rhythm, Coria, who had not lost a set on his way to the semi-finals, smashed his racket in frustration and was two points away from going 5-2 down in the second set.
But once Coria had broken back for 4-3, the Argentine, beaten just once on clay in more than a year, took control, winning 13 games in succession to take the third set and lead 3-0 in the fourth.
Against the odds and roared on by the crowd, Henman suddenly regained his form, reeling off five straight games, only to be broken when serving for the set at 5-4.
Henman, who was bidding to become the first Briton to reach the men's final in Paris since Bunny Austin in 1937, saved one match point on his serve at 5-6 but a backhand over the baseline gave Coria victory.
Guillermo Vilas was the last Argentine to reach the final at Roland Garros, in 1982.
