Second seed Rafael Nadal beat American Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Pacific Life Open final.
The 20-year-old Spaniard will play in his first final since Wimbledon 2006, where he lost to Roger Federer.
Nadal was near perfect against Roddick, ripping 33 winners and committing only 12 unforced errors.
Britain's Andy Murray, the 13th seed, meets 12th seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the other semi-final later on Saturday.