Daniil Medvedev is one victory away from repeating a title run for the first time in his career after he punched his ticket to the Dubai final with a 6-4, 6-2 success over top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday.
Medvedev, a former world No 1, boasts 22 career titles but has bizarrely never won the same tournament twice.
The ex-US Open champion has a chance to change that in the final on Saturday in Dubai, where he lifted the trophy in 2023.
Medvedev played a perfect match on Friday to improve his record against Auger-Aliassime to 8-2 and now awaits his fellow Russian Andrey Rublev or Dutch world number 25 Tallon Griekspoor in the championship decider.
"If you give me some fast courts like they were before, maybe I can do something like this, but there aren't many courts like this on the tour anymore,2 said Medvedev, who is through to the 42nd final of his career.
"And it was like this in Brisbane, and in Brisbane I played well, so I'm happy to be able to play good, to serve well, when you don't need to serve on two lines to make an ace, that feels great. And that feels like old tennis a little bit.
"I'm happy with my level and I'm happy with everything and looking forward to the final."
In a high-quality semi-final, the players were neck and neck through the first nine games before a perfectly-struck lob from Medvedev drew the error from Auger-Aliassime and earned the third seed a set point on the Canadian's serve.
Medvedev converted it on the back of a 24-shot rally to secure a one-set lead in 44 minutes.
The 30-year-old kept pressuring the Auger-Aliassime serve and broke in game four on his way to a 4-1 advantage in the second set and he never looked back, wrapping up the win in one hour and 23 minutes.
It looked like a vintage performance from Medvedev but he insists he is firmly looking ahead.
"What was in the past doesn't matter, what matters is right now. And right now was an amazing four matches, actually playing probably better and better with every match, today being the best performance," said Medvedev.
"So if I manage to put (on an) even better performance tomorrow, I have my chances to win and that's what I'm going to try to do but the opponent is going to be very strong of course."
Auger-Aliassime was looking to reach his third final in four weeks, having defended his title in Montpellier and placed runner-up in Rotterdam earlier this month.
The Canadian world No 8 lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Dubai final last year, and was hoping to make it two in a row.