Benoit Paire kept alive hope of there being a home winner at the Moselle Open as he saved a match point to knock out second seed David Goffin in a 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 7-6 (9-7) quarter-final success.
Seventh seed Paire overhauled a 4-2 deficit to take the first set in Metz, but a sole break for Goffin in the second forced a decider.
The Frenchman recovered from a break in the third to take it to a tie-break, but Goffin appeared set to complete the comeback when he went 6-5 up in the shootout.
However, the Belgian saw his match point go begging and, though he saved one three points later, Goffin could not prevent Paire from progressing to the last four, where he will meet Nikoloz Basilashvili after his 7-5 6-3 win over Denis Istomin.
Mischa Zverev is a match away from his second final at the tournament after seeing off France's Kenny de Schepper 7-5 7-6 (7-4).
Standing in his way will be German compatriot Peter Gojowczyk, a 6-2 6-4 victor against Marius Copil in 56 minutes.
