Andy Murray remained on course for a first title of 2017 by moving into the Dubai Tennis Championships final with a 7-5 6-1 victory over Lucas Pouille.
After a near-three hour epic against Phillipp Kohlschreiber on Thursday, Murray looked to be heading the same way after first set that lasted more than an hour against the world No 15.
Murray-Pouille - as it happened
Recap of the semi-final action from Dubai
But the Scot raced through the second set with arguably his best tennis of the week to see off Pouille and book a showdown with Fernando Verdasco in Saturday's final - which you __can see on Sky Sports 4 and Sky Sports Mix from 3pm.
Verdasco beat Robin Haase in three sets earlier on Friday, the world No 35 prevailing 7-6 5-7 6-1 to reach his first final of the year but he will need to overcome an ominous record against Murray, who has won 12 of their 13 meetings, including each of the last seven.
For Murray it is a chance to claim his opening title of the year, having lost to Novak Djokovic in the final in Doha and Mischa Zverev in the fourth round of the Australian Open but he is not underestimating Verdasco.
Murray said: "It will be tough. He [Verdasco] has played well this week; he's had some good wins.
"He got a tough draw in Australia (Australian Open), lost to (Novak) Djokovic in the first round. He had five match points against Djokovic in Doha (in Qatar Open semi-finals in January), and like I say he's had some big wins this week, so it will be a tricky match.
"He's a leftie, he goes for his shots, a lot of power, a lot of talent in his hands, so I will try to dictate as many points as I __can so that when he's up on the baseline, you know moving the ball around, it's very tough."
The Scot will also take a firm grip of the world No 1 ranking after arch rival Novak Djokovic was beaten in the Abierto Mexicano quarter-final by Nick Kyrgios.
But Murray's focus, as always, is on himself and his opponent with his form in the second set serving notice that he is coming to the boil in time for the Masters 1000 events which get underway in Indian Wells and Miami over the next three weeks.
However, it could have been different for Murray who was made to work hard in an opening set that featured a number of unforced errors.
Murray started well and broke Pouille at the first time of asking, moving into a 3-0 lead with little trouble as Pouille's all-round game lacked the major weapons to do any early damage to Murray.
But Murray seemed to lose his range and handed Pouille four games in succession to take a firm hold of the set.
The Frenchman had never won more than three games in a set against Murray, having lost all three of their previous meetings without claiming a set and winning 10 games in total.
But serving for a 5-3 lead, he allowed Murray to break back immediately and he was to claim just two more games as Murray upped the ante.
At one stage, the match looked to be headed for a tie-break, which may have brought back nightmares for Murray after his 31-minute, 20-18 win over Kohlschreiber to level his quarter-final, but it was not to be as Murray found moments of brilliance to secure the set.
Murray then struck again in Pouille's first service game, sandwiched between two dominant holds to lead 3-0 for the second set in succession.
But unlike in the first, Pouille was unable to fightback. Instead, Murray produced his full array of shots, big serves, and blistering returns to break again on his way to a comfortable second set and a place in the final where Verdasco awaits.
It's Murray's second Dubai final, having lost to Roger Federer in 2012, and he will face the 33-year-old Spaniard, who will be playing his first hard-court final since 2011.
Murray said after his semi-final victory: "It was tough, it wasn't the best match. A lot of mistakes.
"There was some good stuff in there, but neither of us served well at the beginning.
"I think potentially the match yesterday had something to do with that. Sometimes if your legs are a little bit tired, the serve is one of the first things that goes.
"As the match went on, I started serving a bit better, and that helped me. The first set was very important to win, after how the matches went yesterday."
In the opening semi-final, Verdasco emerged triumphant against Haase, who was playing in his first ever 500 level semi-final.
The Spaniard fought back from a break down to take the opening set thanks to a dominant display in the tie-break, and the second set looked like being a similar story.
Haase struck again with the early break but back came Verdasco to level the set, and the Dutchman looked to be losing his way before finding a succession of forehand winners to break in the 12th game of the set to level the match.
Verdasco then breezed through the third set, breaking Haase three times to secure a place in his first ATP 500 final since 2012.
You can follow the Dubai Tennis Championships on Sky Sports on Saturday with the final live on Sky Sports 4 and Mix from 3pm
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