Roger Federer eased past unseeded Romanian Victor Hanescu on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time in his career.
The world number one won the first set with two breaks and broke again in the second only for Hanescu to break straight back to force the tie-break.
But the classy Swiss quashed the threat and after an early break in the third went on to triumph 6-2 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.
He will now play fourth seed Rafael Nadal for a place in the final.
Federer had a temporary blip serving for the match at 5-1 in the third when he wasted two match points.
Hanescu saved another match point in the eighth game of the set - but he was merely delaying the inevitable.
Federer, who has won every Grand Slam except the French, now faces the toughest of tests against rising Spanish star Rafael Nadal.
The Spanish teenager beat countryman David Ferrer 7-5 6-2 6-0.
It is the clash that most observers have been waiting for since the draw was made, as Federer himself acknowledged.
"Everyone is looking forward to the match. It's the first time for both of us in the French Open semi-finals so it should be interesting to see what happens," he said.
"It's a big moment. Both of us have the chance to go on and hopefully walk away with the title here."