World number one Roger Federer recovered from a set down to beat unseeded German Denis Gremelmayr 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 on Saturday to reach his first final of the year at the Estoril Open.
The 26-year-old Swiss top seed struggled to counter Gremelmayr's powerful baseline game but pulled clear with a series of aces in the third set.
He will now face the number two seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia who beat France's Florent Serra 6-2, 6-2 in the other semi-final.
"I think Denis played a fantastic match," Federer, who is recovering from his worst start to a season since 2000, told reporters.
"I read reports that I struggled yesterday and I only lost five games. Today was much closer. But I'm used to it. It's almost bigger news when I lose than when I win. I guess that's a nice problem to have."
Federer, a 12 times Grand Slam winner, hit 10 aces in windy conditions to move closer to claiming his 54th ATP title.
He faces tough final on Sunday against red-hot world number four Davydenko, who has won his last 11 matches and clinched the Estoril title in 2003.
In the women's final, second-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko will be seeking her third title when she faces 2004 finalist Iveta Benesova of Czech Republic.
The unseeded Benesova beat Estonia's Maret Ani 6-2, 6-1 while Kirilenko beat sixth-seeded Czech Klara Zakopalova 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in Saturday's semi-finals.
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