American Andy Roddick overcame the plucky resistance of Frenchman Gael Monfils to reach the final of the Qatar Open with a 7-6 3-6 6-3 win on Friday.
Roddick's win set up an enticing final showdown with either second seed Roger Federer or third seed Andy Murray.
Monfils, who knocked out world number one Rafael Nadal in the previous round, produced another thrilling display but could not maintain the momentum.
Fifth seed Monfils served for the set at 5-4 but failed to press home the advantage and allowed Roddick to come back.
After taking an injury timeout to and get medical attention for a sore back, Monfils returned well to break Roddick in the fourth game of the second set.
Monfils won 10 consecutive points to jump to a 4-1 lead and clinched the set in 33 minutes to level the contest.
Though he continued to play some phenomenal passing shots, Roddick remained undaunted.
After trading breaks midway through the deciding set, Roddick broke his opponent again in the eighth before serving out the match in style.
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