7-6(9-7), 6-7(1-7), 7-6(7-4) to the delight of the French crowd.

Monfils saved five matchpoints in the final set before reaching a decisive tiebreaker.

Not to be outdone, in his semifinal, Soderling fought off three matchpoints versus the unseeded talented lefthander Michael Llodra of France before winning 6-7(0-7), 7-5, 7-6(8-6).

All eight matchpoints of the day occurred in the 12th games of the final sets from both matches.

As with Monfils, Soderling also had been winless versus his opponent; having a 0-2 record versus Llodra before Saturday.

The big serving 26 year old Swede Soderling may be best known as the only player ever to beat the world number one Rafael Nadal of Spain at the French Open. Nadal took the French Open title from 2005-2008 before losing to Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 6-2, 6-7(2-7), 6-4, 7-6(7-2).

Head to head Soderling leads the 24 year old Monfils 2-0, last winning only last week in the quarterfinals indoors at Valencia, Spain 6-3, 6-2.

Monfils, who often slips into playing a defensive baseline game despite being 6 feet 4 inches tall, will need to be more aggressive against the Swede who possesses one of the best and hardest struck forehands on the tour.

For Monfils or Soderling, the Paris title will be either player’s first Masters level or elite ATP Tour singles title.