Britain's Cameron Norrie defeated Jan-Lennard Struff to reach his first ATP Tour final at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The 23-year-old, who grew up in New Zealand, had lost his previous three main tour semi-finals but recovered from losing the second set to beat his German opponent 7-5 4-6 6-3.
His ranking is projected to rise from 93 to 68 and will go even higher if he can beat American Tennys Sandgren in the decider on Saturday before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open.
Norrie said on atptour.com: "I was really, really nervous in that last game, slightly tight, but a big thanks to the crowd for getting me through that.
"It's so special. It's my first final and to do it at home, too, it means so much to me."
