Federico Staksrud became the first player to book his spot in the men’s singles final with an 11-4, 7-11, 11-8 victory over No. 6 seed Tyson McGuffin.

The back-and-forth affair kept fans on Humana Championship Court entertained from start to finish, with the crowd eventually getting behind McGuffin as he attempted to pull off the upset.

One of the key components of Staksrud’s strategy was serving to McGuffin’s backhand, which McGuffin hits almost exclusively with slice. That usually gave the Argentinian time to run around his own backhand and rip a forehand on the third shot.

That pattern came in especially clutch late in the third game. Trailing 7-8, Staksrud reeled off four points in a row—thanks to three third shot forehand winners—to close out the match and advance in Palm Springs.

Staksrud had nothing but good things to say about the 36-year-old McGuffin, who he considers to be a mentor and model of longevity in the sport.

“Tyson has become kind of like a mentor to me in a lot of things,” he explained. “He tells me what kinds of things he does for recovery, what supplements he takes, what type of training he does, and that’s been helping me a lot. It’s nice to have players like that who are a little bit older because they can kind of create a path for us to continue along. At the end of the day, what we want is to grow the sport and create the best product for TV, and I think that’s what we did out there.”

The top seed will face Jaume Martinez Vich in the final.

Jaume Martinez Vich booked the final remaining spot in the men’s singles final with a highly entertaining 11-7, 11-9 victory over No. 2 seed Connor Garnett.

Martinez Vich—who has yet to drop a game through four singles matches in Palm Springs—said that remaining locked in mentally was one of the keys to getting the job in two games, especially as Garnett led a spirited comeback attempt towards the end.

“I stayed focused. I had a plan from the beginning and followed it,” he explained. “I did still engage with the crowd, but not as much as I used to. I think today was just about sticking to the plan and not getting distracted.”

The No. 7 seed will look to maintain his high level of play throughout the rest of the day, as he and Augie Ge will take on Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin later in the men’s doubles semifinals.