Romania's Andrei Pavel survived a fightback from local favourite Tommy Haas to reach the final of the Munich Open with a tense 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory on Saturday.
Pavel will face top seed David Nalbandian in the final of the clay-court tournament, after the Argentine breezed through with a far simpler 6-3, 6-0 victory over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen on Saturday.
The fifth-seeded Pavel took a close first set when Haas wafted a backhand well wide at the end of a long point.
Pavel appeared set for a comfortable win as he took a 5-3 lead but Haas saved a match point on his own serve before breaking his opponent to 15 in the next, with Pavel missing a simple volley at the net.
Haas lost his next service game but once again fought his way back and eventually took the tie-break 7-2.
Pavel led 5-3 in the decider only for Haas to save another match point with a brilliant return. The German got the break back but then lost his serve in the next, flashing a forehand wide to give Pavel the match.
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