Grosjean books final spot

Sebastien Grosjean snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to book his place in the Stella Artois Championship final for the second year running.

Grosjean was a set and 4-1 down to Korean qualifier Hyung-Taik Lee before staging a brave recovery to record a 6-7 7-6 6-2 win in two hours 18 minutes at Queen’s Club.

The 26-year-old Frenchman will now face either defending champion Andy Roddick or three-time winner Lleyton Hewitt in Sunday’s final.

Grosjean was an odds-on favourite to win the match against his unheralded opponent, and was gifted a break of serve in the opening game of the match when Lee served a double fault.

The next eight games went with serve until Grosjean served for the set, Lee producing a forehand winner to get back on level terms.

Grosjean again held the early advantage in the tie-break at 4-3, but the world number 99 raced through the next four points to take it 7-4, the first set Grosjean had lost this week.

Things looked grim for last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist when he went two breaks down in the second set, Lee serving with a 4-1 lead and seemingly set for his third ATP tour final.

But Grosjean immediately broke back and won the next four games in a row, Lee saving a set point at 5-6 to force a second tie-break.

This time it was the fifth seed who won four points in a row from 3-3 to level the match, and from then on there was only ever going to be one winner.

Grosjean raced into a 4-0 lead and Lee, who used to pick potatoes on his family’s farm in the rural Hoingsung area of Korea, was unable to respond.