Roger Federer beat Lleyton Hewitt in the Cincinnati semi-finals - his 11th straight win over the Australian.
Hewitt loses his grip on deciding set
Roger Federer fought back from a break down in the final set to beat Lleyton Hewitt and reach the final of the Cincinnati Masters.
The world No.1 extended his winning run against Hewitt to 11 successive matches with a 6-3 6-7 7-6 success in a gripping semi-final.
Hewitt saved three match points, including one in the second set tie-break, but Federer came back from 3-2 down in the third before ripping through the decisive breaker.
Federer will meet American ninth seed James Blake in Sunday's final.
"It's a tough struggle against him always," Federer, who hit 18 aces, said in a courtside interview.
Happy
"He makes you miss so much, so I am very happy I came through. I had a match point in the second set and ... it is a great win."
Despite a series of forehand errors, Federer won the first set thanks to some superb serving but Hewitt hit back, saving a match point at 6-5 in the tiebreak before snatching it 9-7 to force a decider.
The quality rose again in the final set as Federer recovered to level at 3-3 but after missing two more match points in the 10th game, he won the deciding tiebreak 7-1 to take his place in the final.
Awaiting Federer will be Blake after the American accounted for Russian fifth seed Davydenko 6-2 6-4.
And Blake, who lost to Federer in the final of the Masters Cup last November in Shanghai, is confident he can beat the Swiss.
He said: "He's been the best in world the last few years.
"He has an excellent record in finals.
"But if I'm in the final it shows that I'm playing great.
"I think I have a chance. But if he forces me on my back foot, I'm in trouble."
