Sousa fought back from a set down to win the nail-biting semi-final 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 against Ymerto while in the other match Emil Ruusuvuori held his nerve during the crucial second set tie-breaker to secure a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) victory against Kamil Majchrzak.

Ymer, who stunned top-seed and the World No. 15 Aslan Karatsev in the earlier round to earn the biggest win of his career, made a confident start to race to a 4-1 lead but Sousa recovered well in time to draw level at 5-5.

However, Ymer regrouped and pocketed the set to take 1-0 lead in the match.

Considered as the best Portuguese player of all time, the former World No. 28, capitalised on the momentum gained towards the end of the opening set and led 4-1 in the second set. Sousa took away the set 7-4 in the tie-breaker.

The 32-year-old experienced campaigner put pressure on Ymer, who was in search for his first ATP title, giving him a neck-and-neck fight in the decider and successfully titled the momentum in his favour in a gruelling contest that lasted for more than three hours.

In the doubles,top-seeded Australian duo of Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith have already secured their place in the final when they defeated India’s Saketh Myneni and Mukund Sasikumar on Friday night.

Results (semi-finals):
Emil Ruusuvuori bt Kamil Majchrzak 6-3, 7-6 (7-0); Joao Sousa bt Elias Ymer 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5