Roger Federer was made to work harder than expected before booking his place in Saturday's AAMI Classic final at Kooyong.
The world number two was pushed all the way by Spaniard Fernando Verdasco before eventually triumphing 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5) in two hours 14 minutes.
Federer will meet Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka or Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in Saturday's final. They play on Friday.
It was the perfect preparation for the Australian Open for three-time champion Federer, who is aiming to equal Pete Sampras' record 14 grand slam crowns.
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In fact, the match seemed destined for an early finish when Federer raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set.
But Verdasco, who was a member of Spain's Davis Cup-winning squad last season, fought back to take the next three games before Federer closed it out on his serve.
The second set was closer with Verdasco, who reached the final in Brisbane last week, breaking the former world number one in the eighth game before serving out the set.
The decider went to a tie-break in which Federer held a 6-2 lead but struggled to finish it off.
Verdasco staved off three match points but the Swiss star sealed the match with an ace.
Federer said afterwards: ‘It's good to be out there and getting used to the court, so long matches don't bother me at this stage. If I would be practising I would also be practising two to three hours, so that was good.
‘The second set wasn't the best of levels, you know. He was struggling, I think it was with the sun, and I couldn't capitalise on that, but as the match went on I think we started to play better and better, and in the end it was a good match.’
The earlier match saw 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis break his four-month drought with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 victory over Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.
Baghdatis had not won a match since last September as a back injury curtailed his season.
Both men were out of title contention after losing their first matches yesterday.
Baghdatis said ‘Very nice, to tell the truth, very nice. It feels great.
‘It's a relief going into the Aussie Open, so that's the most important thing.
‘I'm starting to feel good on court.’
In the last match today, Croatian Marin Cilic continued his good early-season form by defeating Spaniard Carlos Moya 6-3 7-6 (7-1).
