Italian Simone Bolelli upset French top seed Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 4-6 7-6 to reach the final of the Munich Open.

The unseeded 22-year-old Bolelli took the deciding set tiebreak 7-4 to seal victory in just over three hours and set up a meeting with second seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in Sunday's final of the claycourt event.

Gonzalez had earlier came through another tight semi-final, seeing off the 36-year-old Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui 3-6 6-4 6-3 to take his place in the final.

El Aynaoui, the oldest semi-finalist in an ATP tournament since Jimmy Connors managed it at the age of 40 in 1993, was in charge at a set and a break up but he missed the chance to go 4-2 up in the second and that was the signal for Gonzalez to rediscover his form.

The Chilean levelled the match and won a long game at the start of the second set to go a break ahead before completing victory in one hour 52 minutes to reach his second final of the season.

"He played fantastic tennis," Gonzalez said. "It was like being up against a top five player today."

Reuters