Arthur Fils edged past Holger Rune 7-6(8) 7-6(10) to reach the Tokyo final and set up a match with Ugo Humbert.
The Frenchman reached his fourth ATP final after a tight win over the Dane which was sealed with an incredible passing shot.
After closing out a sensational win Fils hailed the passing shot as ‘one of the best’ he’s ever hit, “It’s the best passing I ever hit in my whole life, man,” Fils explained to the ATP website.
“The passing went crazy. I was going exactly for this one and it went so good out of my racquet. It was an amazing one. When I went to the passing, I got big cramps in the quads and I said to myself, ‘Okay, I need to win this one because otherwise I don’t know how I’m going to do it’.
“I saw the passing and just laid down because I was completely tired [from] the match and all the week.”
Fils will now look to secure a second ATP title at ATP 500 level having won the title in Hamburg earlier this year when he defeated Alexander Zverev.
Standing in Fils’ way is Ugo Humbert after he defeated Tomas Machac 6-3 3-6 6-2 in the other semi-final.
Fils is currently losing the head-to-head 3-0 and knows he is the underdog heading into this match, “It’s amazing. For now I’ve never beat him, so I’m going to come on the court as an underdog,” Fils stated to the ATP website.
“We like this position, especially in the final. So let’s see how it [will] go.”
The final will take place at 7pm local time which is 11am BST.
