Andy Murray booked his place in the Capitala World Championship final with a 4-6 6-2 7-6 win over Roger Federer.
Scotsman makes it three wins on the spin against Federer
Andy Murray continued his impressive start to 2009 by clinching his third consecutive victory over Roger Federer to reach the final of Capitala World Tennis Championship.
In a match which hung in the balance right until the final point, Murray eventually crossed the line to grab a dramatic 4-6 6-2 7-6 win in front of a rapturous Abu Dhabi crowd.
The Scotsman, who was nursing a back injury throughout the majority of the match, overcame a poor start to continue his fine run of results against Federer since the world number two beat him in the US Open final.
After surging into a 4-1 lead in the decisive final set, Murray squandered a gilt-edge chance to move 5-1 ahead by mis-timing his jump for a routine smash, and Federer fought back to take the match to a tie-breaker.
However, despite the momentum being well and truly with Federer, Murray held his nerve when it mattered to seal his place in the final against Rafael Nadal.
Ruthless
In the opening semi-final clash of the Australian Open warm-up event, Federer signalled his intent on having more than just a cameo appearance at the Zayed Sports Arena by winning his opening service game to love.
The Swiss star continued to dominate the opening exchanges as Murray struggled to rediscover the rhythm and ruthlessness which saw him breeze past James Blake in round one.
A poor volley from Murray saw Federer break in the second game before the Basle-born ace effortlessly moved 3-0 ahead with a comfortable hold.
However, any thoughts the world number two may have had of an opening set whitewash were quickly put to bed as Murray fought back well to win the next three games.
Federer quickly aborted his chip and charge tactic as a result, and stopped the rot by holding serve in game seven, before Murray mirrored his opponent with a comfortable hold the following game.
After another hold from Federer, Murray was then guilty of throwing away the opening set 4-6 as he double faulted twice in quick succession, the second of which coming on set point.
Refusing to dwell on his lapse in concentration, Murray flew out of the traps at the start of the second set by breaking Federer at the fifth time of asking.
Misjudged
That was the first of four consecutive games for the 21-year-old, as Federer looked on in disbelief as he trailed 4-0.
And despite Federer holding and breaking back to slash the deficit to 4-2, Murray wasn't to be denied, and he clinched the next two games to level the match at one set apiece.
As the deciding set got underway, Murray was fighting off both a back injury and an excitable crowd inside the Zayed Sports City Arena - who were clearly in favour of a Federer victory.
However, Murray's strong serving and accurate groundstrokes were proving too much for Federer and the Dunblane-born ace opened up a 4-1 lead after a string of fine returns in the fifth game of the final set.
And when Federer tamely looped the ball up to Murray at game point soon after, the Scotsman looked destined to open up what surely would have been an unassailable 5-1 lead.
However, when Murray misjudged the flight of the ball and lobbed himself as a result, that triggered a Federer fightback which saw him break back twice to take the match into a tie-breaker.
Despite the momentum and spectators behind Federer, Murray followed up victories in Madrid and Shanghai at the back end of 2008 to defeat his Swiss counterpart for a third successive time by clinching the tie-breaker 8-6.
Davydenko destroyed
A final showdown against world number one Nadal awaits for Murray after the Spaniard breezed past Russian opponent Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 6-3.
Just as Murray had done earlier, Nadal took time finding his groove but as soon as he broke Davydenko for the first time he never looked like relinquishing his position of strength.
The Spanish southpaw wrapped up victory after exactly an hour with an ace and now turns his attention to a battle against in form Murray.
Saturday's final, live on
Sky Sports xtra, promises to be a fascinating encounter judging by both player's semi-final performances.
Nadal has won five out of six meetings against the Scotsman, however Murray's victory over the Spaniard at Flushing Meadows in the US Open semi-final was the most recent match-up.
