Russian favorite Andrey Rublev beat Canadian Denis Shapovalov 4: 6: 6: 3: 6: 4 in the semi-finals of the St. Petersburg Open on Saturday and sets up a meeting with Borna Coric.
Rublev saved five out of six breakpoints to advance and took advantage of the final set when Shapovalov needed treatment on his shoulder.
The victory also improved Rublev's chances of qualifying for the ATP final at the end of the season next month, which has two places left. The 22-year-old moved to eighth place in the race in London, jumping ahead of Roland Garros semi-finalist Diego Schwartzman.
World number one Novak Djokovic, French Open Master Rafael Nadal, US Open winner Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev have already qualified for the ATP final.
In the other semi-finals, the Croatian Coric returned to the final for the second time in a row after also abandoning the first set against Milos Raonic before turning the tables on his Swiss opponent with a victory of 1: 6: 6: 1: 6: 4.
Raonic shot 18 aces in the competition, but Coric converted three out of five breakpoints to secure his place in the final.
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