VIENNA: Gael Monfils and Philipp Petzschner reached the final of the BA Tennis Trophy ON Saturday.

Eighth-seeded Monfils beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (2) and German qualifier Petzschner rallied to defeat 2004 champion Feliciano Lopez of Spain 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Sunday’s match is the first final of the season for Monfils, while Petzschner had never got beyond the quarter-finals of an ATP event before this event.

Monfils is 1-4 in career finals and could become the fifth Frenchman to win an ATP event this year after Gilles Simon, Michael Llodra, Fabrice Santoro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

“I won’t put myself under any pressure, just get out and play and enjoy the match,’’ Monfils said.

Monfils won the only previous meeting against Petzschner in straight sets — two weeks ago in Bangkok, Thailand. “I have something to make up for that, so I am looking forward to the final,” said Petzschner, who is currently ranked 125th but will enter the top 100 next week.

“It’s already an incredible event for me, the best tennis week of my life,” said Petzschner, who played his first qualifying match last Saturday just three hours after getting off the plane from a flight from Tokyo.

Monfils, the only seeded player in the semifinals, broke Kohlschreiber at 3-3 and saved four break points against his serve to take the opening set.

The second went with serve until 6-5 when Kohlschreiber used the only chance to crack Monfils’ serve and level the match.

“Kohlschreiber put me under pressure with his cross forehands, so I tried to slow down the pace,” Monfils said.

In the deciding set’s third game — the longest of the match — Kohlschreiber fought off six break points but ultimately lost the game when Monfils hit a backhand passing shot on his seventh chance.

Monfils missed three match points when he led 6-5 and 40-0, but used a fifth chance to close out the match in the tie-breaker.

“I tried to stay focused after missing three match points and I knew I had a tie-breaker coming up,” Monfils said.

Petzschner missed three break points while Lopez used the only chance he got to clinch the opening set. An early break in the second was enough for Petzschner to level the match. He conceded just four points on his serve in the final set and two breaks to wrap up the victory.