Tennis: Unseeded Frenchman Gilles Simon sprung a major shock by coming from a set down to beat Rafael Nadal and book his place in the final of the Madrid Masters today.
The world number one looked on course for a routine victory when he took the first set 6-3, but Simon produced a stunning fightback to claim a 3-6 7-5 7-6 (8/6) victory in three hours 22 minutes.
He sealed victory after challenging a Nadal forehand which had been called good but was shown to have missed the baseline by inches.
The Frenchman will meet Britain's Andy Murray - who beat Roger Federer earlier today- in the final.
Nadal had won his previous two meetings with Simon, at the Australian Open this year and in Marseille in 2006.
But it was to prove third time lucky for the Frenchman as Nadal, who has been struggling with injury, was made to pay for taking just five of his 22 break points.
Simon, the world number 16, had come back from a set down in his opening three wins at the tournament and had to do so again when Nadal took the first set 6-3.
That first set suggested it would be a routine victory for the Spaniard, but Simon had saved a total of six match points on way to the last four though and was not going to give the chance of a fourth title of the year away without a fight.
The 23-year-old showed the same battling qualities which did for Igor Andreev, James Blake, Robby Ginepri and Ivo Karlovic in the previous rounds to edge the second set and take the match to a decider.
Simon had the chance to serve for the match at 6-5 in the third set but Nadal broke back to force a tie-break.
The Spaniard then produced a fine running forehand down the line to save a match point at 5-6 in the breaker.
But he could not repeat the trick at 7-6 on Simon's serve as his forehand at the end of a cautious rally was successfully challenged by the Frenchman and Nadal was beaten.