Alejandro Davidovich Fokina reached his first singles final on the main tour when he beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3 in a see-saw clash at the Monte Carlo Masters on Saturday.
The world number 46 from Spain, whose best performances are two Challengers titles in 2019, won five of his six break points while Dimitrov failed to convert seven of his 10 opportunities.
The 22-year-old will now face either German Alexander Zverev or defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat him here in the quarter-finals last year.
A Dimitrov double fault gave Davidovich Fokina the first break of the match in the third game and the Spaniard held serve to bag the opening set.
The Bulgarian was more precise early in the second set to open a 2-0 lead but he quickly lost his focus again as his opponent won four games in a row to move closer to a straight-set victory.
Serving for the match at 5-3, though, he crumbled under pressure and allowed Dimitrov back into the contest, with the Bulgarian winning the tiebreak easily.
The decider was another test of nerves as Dimitrov collapsed after winning the first two games, losing five in a row to put Davidovich Fokina on the brink of victory again.
This time, the Spaniard kept his composure and prevailed on his second match point.
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