Rafael Nadal, the world's dominant player on clay, and Guillermo Canas, the comeback king of the men's tour, will meet on Sunday in a mouth-watering final at the Barcelona Open.
Nadal, who beat David Ferrer 7-5 6-1 in his semi-final, has won a record 71 consecutive matches on clay stretching back to April 2005 when he lost to Russian Igor Andreev in Valencia.
Argentine Canas outlasted his compatriot Agustin Calleri 7-6 6-7 6-2 to reach his third final of a year in which his ranking has risen from 142 to 28, including back-to-back wins over world number one Roger Federer in Indian Wells and Miami last month.
World number two Nadal struggled for his usual consistency in swirling winds. At 5-4 and 30-30 on Nadal's serve, Ferrer was just two points away from the first set but Nadal held on and then broke in the 11th game before serving out for the set.
After that, though fifth seed Ferrer continued to battle, Nadal was always in control and he broke three times in the second set to claim his place in the final.
Canas took almost three hours to get the better of Calleri needed treatment for cramp in his right forearm, which affected his grip on the forehand.
He should have wrapped up the match in two sets but double-faulted on his second match point and went into a third, but in the end his greater resilience, consistency and fitness wore Calleri down.
