Rafael Nadal is on the verge of winning his first grass-court title after an impressive victory over defending champion Andy Roddick in the semi-finals of the Artois Championships.
Roddick had triumphed at Queen's in four of the last five years and was seeking a record fifth title, but was no match for the French Open champion on centre court.
One break of serve in each set was enough to give Nadal a 7-5 6-4 victory in 87 minutes and the top seed will face either Novak Djokovic or David Nalbandian in tomorrow's final.
"It was a very important match for me against the best player at Queen's, a four-time winner and defending champion," said Nadal, who won his fourth French Open title in a row at Roland Garros just six days ago.
"I'm very happy to be in the final, it's very important for me to start the grass-court season like this and to beat a specialist like Andy.
"I thought Andy was the favourite today, on grass he is a very, very good player with an amazing serve but today I played very, very well."
Roddick saved three break points in the third game of the opening set but the former US Open champion was powerless to stop a superb forehand winner down the line which gave Nadal the break in the 11th game, and the Spaniard served out after saving four break points to take the set 7-5.
Roddick again found himself facing three break points in the fifth game of the second set but looked like digging himself out of trouble.
The 25-year-old American saved the first two with ease but then shanked an easy forehand into the stands to gift Nadal the break and a 3-2 lead.
This time Nadal did not need to save any break points as he served out the rest of the set to claim a memorable win over a fellow two-time Wimbledon finalist.