Novak Djokovic came from behind to defeat Kei Nishikori in Rome on Saturday and set up an Internazionali BNL d'Italia final clash with Andy Murray.
World number one Djokovic remained on course for a fifth Italian Open title, and third in a row, after the Serbian eventually saw off his Japanese opponent 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
As well as a dogged effort from sixth seed Nishikori, Djokovic overcame an injury during the contest, having had a medical timeout for a cut on his left ankle after the first game.
He will aim in Sunday's final to build on a 23-9 head-to-head advantage over Murray, who he beat last week to win the Madrid Open.
Earlier on Saturday, Murray eased to a straight-sets victory in his semi-final meeting with unseeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille.
The second seed posted a 6-2 6-1 victory against Pouille, ranked 52 in the world.
Both Murray and Djokovic are looking to secure a first French Open title at this year's tournament, which starts on May 22.
Murray told Sky Sports after defeating Pouille: "Any time you get the chance to play the best players, especially right before a slam, it's great preparation.
"The French Open starts a week tomorrow so there's not long left to prepare and it's great to get another big match in before it starts."
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here