Richard Gasquet avenged last season's final defeat to Gael Monfils by beating his French compatriot in straight sets in Saturday's Open de Sud France last-four contest.
Monfils won the tournament for the second time in his career with a 6-4 6-4 beating of Gasquet 12 months ago in Montpellier.
However, on this occasion it was Gasquet - winner in 2006 and 2013 - who came out on top to overcome the top seed 6-4 6-3.
There were early warning signs for Monfils when he lost his opening service game and, although he immediately broke back, Gasquet broke again in the final game of the set to clinch the opener.
A tense second set followed as both players dominated on their own serve, but fourth seed Gasquet found the crucial breakthrough to lead 5-3.
Monfils had two break points to hit back, only for Gasquet to recover before serving out on his first match point.
Earlier, Jerzy Janowicz outlasted Joao Sousa 7-6 (11-9) 3-6 6-1 to book his spot in Sunday's final.
The Pole, seeded fifth, needed to stave off six match-points in his first-round encounter with Dustin Brown before going on to beat to Benoit Paire and Gilles Simon.
And his battling qualities were on display once again, as he dug deep to clinch the opener on a tie-break to end a first set that lasted almost an hour.
Sousa raced into a 5-1 lead in the second and, although Janowicz earned one break back in a brief comeback, the Portuguese levelled the contest.
However, world number 44 Janowicz quickly rebounded to reel off the first five games of the decider.
Sousa avoided a final set whitewash but was unable to prevent Janowicz from serving out and claiming the chance to win his first ATP World Tour title on his third final appearance.