Daniil Medvedev advanced to his first final in 13 months on Saturday, as he defeated Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6(4) at the Rolex Paris Masters.
The third seed saved six of seven break points to reach his maiden championship match in Paris. Medvedev is through to his fourth ATP Masters 1000 final (2-1).
“When you play against Milos, you are always at risk because [if] one time he breaks you, it is very tough to break him back,” he told atp.com.
“I knew I had to stay focussed. The first set was amazing, I had zero break points to save… and I managed to break him in a good way.
”The second set was much tighter. I had two games where I had to save breaks points and [they were] tough points. I managed to break him and [then] I lost my serve.
“It was shaky here and there, but I am really happy to be through to the final.”
Medvedev entered the tournament searching for form, following five losses from his past eight matches.
But the World No. 5 has rediscovered his best level at the Accor Arena with victories against Kevin Anderson, Alex de Minaur, Diego Schwartzman and Raonic.
The two-time Nitto ATP Finals qualifier improved to 3-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against Raonic.
Medvedev also earned quarter-final wins against the Canadian in Tokyo in 2018 and in Brisbane last year.
Raonic was attempting to reach his second Masters 1000 final of the year.
The 29-year-old, who finished as runner-up at the Western & Southern Open in August, owns a 23-9 record this season.
Medvedev will meet top seed Rafael Nadal or fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the championship match.
The 24-year-old trails Nadal 0-3 in their ATP Head2Head series and owns one win from six matches against Zverev.
