Qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka upset Fernando Verdasco to reach the first ATP final of his career and Pierre-Hugues Herbert saved two match points against Alex de Minaur to keep his Shenzhen Open title hopes alive.

Nishioka, ranked 171st in the world, rallied from a set down to beat fifth seed Verdasco 1-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) on Saturday.

Experienced Spaniard Verdasco dominated the first set, but was left stunned after Nishioka came storming back to set up an unlikely Sunday showdown.

Verdasco lost only seven points on serve in a one-sided opening set before the 22-year-old Japanese outsider warmed to the task, breaking twice in the second set and claiming the only mini-break of a final-set tie-break to go through.

The unheralded Nishioka, who lost in the first round of a Challenger Tour event in Chinese Taipei last week, gained sweet revenge for being beaten by Verdasco in the first round of the French Open.

Herbert was crowned doubles champion in his homeland at Roland Garros in June and he could claim a maiden singles title this weekend following a 7-5 2-6 7-6 (10-8) defeat of Australian De Minaur.

De Minaur had two chances to reach the final in a deciding breaker, but Herbert hung in there and saw off the seventh seed.

The unseeded Herbert will play in only his second ATP singles final, three years after he was defeated by Kevin Anderson in the Winston-Salem Open decider.