World number one Jannik Sinner reached his first grass final at the Wimbledon tune-up tournament in Halle, Germany, while home favourite Alexander Zverev was defeated by Hubert Hurkacz.
Sinner was made to work for a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) semi-final victory against Zhang Zhizhen on Saturday.
His best previous result on grass was a semi-final showing last year at Wimbledon, which he lost to Novak Djokovic.
"It means a lot. I had four very tough matches to go to the final," he said.
"It was a good match today. Definitely more rallies than yesterday and that's exactly what I needed today. I'm happy and let's see what's coming tomorrow."
Sinner will meet fifth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz, who defeated Olympic champion Zverev 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
Hurkacz, who won the Halle title in 2022, produced an impressive serving display in the semi-final, firing 17 aces and saving all four break points he faced to earn his fifth top 10 grass-court win.
"It needed to be really good," Hurkacz said. "He is such a good competitor and is playing good tennis, reaching the final at the French (Roland Garros) and playing at a really high level.
"I am really confident on my serve. I am serving really good. There were some moments but I managed to believe in my game and hit some good serves and good shots, so I stayed pretty calm."
Germany’s Zverev was seeking his first trophy in Halle, after having advanced to the title match on home soil in 2016 and 2017.
Halle is among the big warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon which starts on July 1.
