Auckland tennis champion David Ferrer has been dumped out of his home tournament in Valencia by Argentina's Juan Monaco.
The defending champion and home favourite Ferrer went down to Monaco 7-5 1-6 6-3 to set up a final clash against Spain's Marcel Granollers in the Valencia Open.
Monaco, ranked 41, also broke Ferrer's winning run in his home city event of 14 wins stretching back to 2007.
His opponent on Monday also produced a shock semi-final win to reach his second successive final in Valencia after losing in straight sets to Ferrer last year.
Granollers ousted Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4 7-6 in an hour and 52 minutes to reach the final.
Barcelona-born Granollers, ranked 34, has again had a spectacular week at Valencia and will be confident of adding to two career titles - Houston in 2008 and Gstaad this year.
The defeat puts a dent in del Potro's chances of securing a berth at this month's season-ending World Tour finals.
Del Potro's loss means Czech Tomas Berdych, who lost to Japan's Kei Nishikori in the first round in Basel this week, becomes the sixth player to qualify for the eight-man event in London
