Martin Klizan mounted another great escape to defeat Nicolas Mahut and reach the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
The Slovakian saved five match points in his quarter-final win over Roberto Bautista Agut and fought off three more in a 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (9/7) 6-2 victory against Mahut.
Klizan saved one match point at 3-5 in the second set before breaking Mahut when the Frenchman served for the match and then saving two more match points in the tie-break.
Klizan, who is chasing a fourth ATP Tour title, said on atpworldtour.com: "It was an incredible moment. I will remember this tournament until the day I die.
"I never thought I could win, because Nicolas was playing great tennis. Maybe I was lucky, but I tried to fight until the last point. I think the crowd enjoyed the show."
In the final, Klizan will play French fifth seed Gael Monfils, who was a 6-3 6-2 winner over Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Source: PA
