Argentine Guillermo Canas tamed big-hitting Croat Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 6-2 to reach the final of the Sony Ericsson Open on Friday, underlining his return to top form following a 15-months doping ban.
Canas, who scored back-to-back upset wins over world number one Roger Federer at Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami, will face Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final.
The 19-year-old Serb reached his second Masters Series final in as many events with a 6-1, 6-0 demolition of Andy Murray.
"I feel amazing," a smiling Canas told reporters. "It's great to beat Roger twice and now the final, this is amazing for me."
Canas said he was proud of the way he played and that he was full of confidence.
"The last six months have been amazing and to play again in the final of a Master Series, I'm so proud what I have done in six months."
Ljubicic, who lost in the Miami final last year to Federer, lashed out at tournament officials for giving Canas wildcards to events.
While the Argentine battled his way through qualifiers to gain entry into the main draw in both Indian Well and Miami, his comeback has been helped along by a series of wildcard entries to other tournaments.
'CHEATING ON US'
"I feel like giving the wildcards to guys coming off doping suspensions means helping them come back, which I don't feel is right," said Ljubicic. "The guys were cheating on us and I don't think we should help them to come back.
"I feel it's like a guy coming out of prison and you're just giving him a gun straight away."
Canas put on a show for the fans at the Stadium court, many waving Argentine flags, as he waited patiently for an opening and then took full advantage of all three of his break chances.
Ljubicic failed on all seven of his break opportunities, including a triple break point early in the opening set.
Canas now faces the dangerous Djokovic, who has earned his second shot at a Masters Series title two weeks after losing to Rafael Nadal in the Indian Wells final.
His opponent in the other semi-final, Briton Murray, went into their meeting having won more matches than any other player this season. But the 19-year-old Scot was swept aside by the 10th-seeded Serb, who reeled off 11 consecutive games to win in only 62 minutes.
Having advanced when Andy Roddick was forced to retire from their quarter-final with a hamstring injury, a well-rested Murray produced a surprisingly listless display and was loudly jeered by unhappy fans for his apparent lack of effort.
World number one Justine Henin of Belgium and three-times champion Serena Williams will meet in the women's final on Saturday.
