Arnaud Clement saved two match points and fought back from two sets down to deny his close friend Sebastien Grosjean a place in the Australian Open final.
Clement, seeded 15 to Grosjean's 16, won 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-2 to set himself up for a crack at defending champion Andre Agassi in Sunday's final.
The Frenchman, who knocked Agassi out of last year's US Open, finally killed off his compatriot after four hours and eight minutes of drama in the Rod Laver Arena.
He fully deserved his moment of glory after bravely facing down match points at 5-3 and then 5-4 down in the third set. On the first, he produced a forehand winner. On the second, he charged to the net and put away a backhand volley to keep his hopes alive.
Both players had chances to win a closely fought first set. But after 57 minutes of slugging from the baseline, it was Grosjean who finally edged it, claiming a break in the 11th game to earn a chance to serve for the set, which he took.
He then immediately stamped his authority on the match by breaking Clement in the first game of the second and went on to take the set 6-2.
A recurrence of the left thigh strain which bothered Clement during his quarter-final win over Yevgeny Kafelnikov added to his problems and he looked to be out of it when he lost his opening service game in the third set.
But after squandering his match points, Grosjean began to fold.
Clement claimed the set in a tiebreak and sustained the fightback with a break in the first set of the fourth.
Grosjean broke back in the fourth game but he failed to hold his serve at 5-5, allowing Clement to force the match into a fifth set, of which he always looked the most likely winner.
Proceedings were finally brought to a halt when Grosjean netted a straightforward forehand after saving four match points.
His collapse means he is still looking for a win over Clement after three meetings on the men's tour.
Clement is the first Frenchman to reach a Grand Slam final since Cedric Pioline lost to Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 1997.
He is also the first Frenchman into the final of the Australian Open since the legendary Jean Borotra won the tournament back in 1928. -AFP-