Fognini battles back from the brink to reach final in St Petersburg

Fognini won just two games in the opening set and trailed 3-1 in the second, but hit back to win two tie-breaks and seal a 2-6 7-6 (9/7) 7-6 (7/5) victory in a match lasting almost two-and-a-half hours.

The third seed recovered from 5-3 down in the decisive tie-break and will face Bosnia and Herzegovina's Damir Dzumhur in the final after the unseeded player beat Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 7-5.

"It was a great day for me," Dzumhur said. "I played from the start until the end at a high level. I think I took my chances. Today was one of the best matches of the past few months for me. I'm really happy to go through to my second final.

"I knew that I had to play better than yesterday (against Liam Broady) and I tried to fix the things that didn't work yesterday, especially my serve and my forehand."

In Metz, home favourite Benoit Paire will attempt to win his second ATP World Tour title after reaching the final of the Moselle Open by beating Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1 7-6 (7/5).

Paire will face German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, who advanced when fifth seed and compatriot Mischa Zverev retired down 6-3 1-0 because of the flu.