Britain's Tim Henman reached his first semi-final for over a year with victory against Italian Andreas Seppi at the Zagreb Indoors event on Friday.
Henman is looking for his first title since Paris in 2003
The 31-year-old did not have it all his own way and let an early 3-0 lead slip before taking the opening set.
Henman then broke early in the second for a 6-3 6-4 win to set up a match against Stefan Koubek.
It will be Henman's first semi-final since he lost to Roger Federer at the same stage of the 2004 US Open.
"It's been a while," Henman told his website.
"Last year I made quite a few quarter-finals at the beginning of the year but I wasn't able to take advantage of any of those opportunities.
"Thankfully, I've been able to do that this week and it feels good to still be involved in the business end of an event.
"I like the conditions here as I feel they suit my game and I'm gaining in confidence with each win.
"I've thoroughly enjoyed the week so far but I'm not done yet - I want to take advantage of the fact that I'm through to the semi-finals and make the most of the situation."
Henman and Seppi were meeting for the second time, the British number one having beaten world number 55 Seppi on clay in Hamburg two years ago.
And Henman endured some difficult moments against the Italian, dropping three straight games in the first set and fending off break-back points in the second.
But the manner of victory will mean less than the result for the Briton, who enjoyed only his seventh win since Wimbledon last year.
Henman's semi-final opponent, Koubek, reached the last four with a 7-6 6-7 6-3 win against giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic.
The first match of the day saw 18-year-old Novak Djokovic of Serbia & Montenegro beat Ilija Bozoljac 6-2 6-3, and he will face Ivan Ljubicic, who beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-2.