Top seed Richard Gasquet ensured two Frenchmen will contest the Open Sud de France final as he hit back to secure a three-set victory over Dustin Brown to set up Sunday's showdown with Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Gasquet, 10th in the world rankings, became the eighth active player to reach 25 tour-level finals after completing a superb comeback to beat Brown 1-6 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 39 minutes.
Brown won nine of the first 10 games in 35 minutes, hitting 27 winners, but Gasquet rallied brilliantly from 3-0 down in the second set to claim nine of the next 11 games to take the lead and he then closed out the match.
Earlier in the day, Mathieu overcame German teenager Alexander Zverev 7-6 (13/11) 7-5 to book his place in the final 14 years after first winning the tournament.
Mathieu, 34, who beat Gustavo Kuerten to win the title in 2002, called on all his experience to overcome rising star Zverev, 14 years his junior, in one hour and 55 minutes.
Zverev fought back from 3-0 down in the first set to force an enthralling tie-break and saved three set points before Mathieu prevailed at the fourth attempt to win it 13-11.
In the second set, the German saved match point at 5-4 down on Mathieu's serve and broke back to level at 5-5, but the Frenchman undid Zverev's serve again and closed out the match to reach his 10th ATP World Tour final.
"I'm very happy with the win," said Mathieu. "It's a great satisfaction to be in a final again.
"The last was in Kitzbuhel (last year). To make another one in a couple of months is great for my confidence. Hopefully I will win (on Sunday)."
Source: PA
