Rafael Nadal fought past Grigor Dimitrov in a classy quarter-final at the Shanghai Masters on Friday.
The world number one persevered 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 to book a semi-final with Marin Cilic, and record a second win over Dimitrov in as many weeks.
Nadal also beat Dimitrov in last week's China Open semi-final but, this time, was pushed much harder by his opponent and he is now Sky Bet's 10/11 favourite to win the tournament.
The Spaniard is now 2/9 favourite with Sky Bet to beat Cilic, who can be backed at 100/30 to spring a surprise on Saturday.
"Winning a lot of matches in a row, so I'm very happy for everything," Nadal said. "Of course, being able to win the US Open, Beijing, and being in the semifinals here ... I have to try to keep focus and hold that momentum. We'll see tomorrow if I can have another good day."
Sixth seed Dimitrov frequently had the final say during pulsating rallies, most impressively during the final set when he kept a point alive before winning it close to the net.
Dimitrov, at 2-2 in the decisive set, had Nadal's back to the wall and forced the Spaniard to survive a break point.
The 870th career win for Nadal ties him at No 6 in the all-time Open era list behind Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors (1,256 each), Roger Federer (1,121), Ivan Lendl (1,068), Guillermo Vilas (929) and John McEnroe (877).
Meanwhile, Cilic's 6-3 6-4 quarter-final win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas puts him ahead of Dimitrov at No 5 in the race to the ATP World Tour Finals in London and he is a 7/1 chance to win the trophy in Shanghai.
"My team has worked really well in all parts of my game just to bring it up to the nice level that I can keep it up throughout every single week," said Wimbledon finalist, Cilic.
"I got to understand also all the things that we were working on. They are quite clear for me and I also am a little bit more consistent this year in serving performances.
"I'm winning quite a lot of service games and a lot of matches."
On the other side of the draw, Juan Martin del Potro overcame a nasty tumble to beat Serbia's Viktor Troicki 4-6 6-1 6-4.
Del Potro's wrist problems have been well documented down the years and at 2-2 in the deciding set he fell awkwardly on to his non-playing hand, dropping on to it with most of his weight.
The Argentinian needed several minutes of medical attention while he sat on a chair on the back of the court, visibly wincing in pain.
However, on his return to action he immediately broke Troicki's serve and went on to win and he is 11/1 to win the tournament.
Del Potro will play Roger Federer (5/4) after he saw off Richard Gasquet 7-5 6-4.
The Swiss is Sky Bet's 1/3 favourite to win the match, with Del Potro 5/2.
Friday's results meant Dominic Thiem becomes the fourth qualifier for the ATP Finals in London next month.
The Austrian joins Nadal, Federer and Alex Zverev as confirmed participants in the eight-man field.