Nadal and Youzhny entrance into the Chennai final's

World number two Rafael Nadal overcame a dazzling challenge from veteran Spanish compatriot Carlos Moya to squeeze through to the ATP Chennai Open final on Saturday.

Nadal saved four match points in the second set before winning 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/1) in an enthralling four-hour semi-final that swung wildly from one side to another.

The 19th ranked Youzhny gave Croatian youngster Marin Cilic a tennis lesson before cruising to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the first semi-final. Top-seeded Nadal will clash with fourth seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in Sunday's final of the season-opening event worth 68,800 dollars to the champion.

Some 6,000 fans at the packed centre court of the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium watched a stunning fight from their favourite Moya, who won here in 2004 and 2005 and was runner up to Ivan Ljubicic in 2006. The 31-year-old Moya and seeded third, outplayed Nadal in the first set tie-breaker in which he dropped only three points.

Nadal broke Moya in the fifth game of the second set, but was himself broken in the 10th while serving for the set which forced another tie-breaker. Moya appeared to have the match sewn up at 6-3 in the tie-breaker, but Nadal hit back to save four match points and make it 6-6 before taking the set at 10/8.

Moya, ranked 17th in the world, once again seized the advantage in the third set by breaking Nadal's serve in the fifth game but faltered while serving for the match at 5-4.

Left-handed Nadal broke back to make it 5-5 and pressed home the advantage in the third tie-breaker of the match, conceding just one point. Earlier, Youzhny dominated Cilic from the start, breaking the 19-year-old former world junior number two in the opening game of the match.

Both players had finished their quarter-final matches in the early hours of Saturday after rain played havoc with the scheduling. Youzhny, looking for his fourth career title, said he was confident going into the final.

"We are professionals and have to adjust to the rain," he said. "Both of us finished our quarter-final matches at the same time and obviously there was little time to recover. "But I am happy with the way I played today. I kept the pressure on him from the start. I am ready for the final.