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American Mardy Fish upset top seed Fernando Verdasco 6-0 1-6 6-3 to reach the final of the ATP event in New Haven on Saturday.
Runner-up here last year, Fish clinched victory after one hour and 28 minutes to set up a final against Croatian sixth seed Marin Cilic, who defeated Luka Gregorc of Slovenia in the late match.
Fish said it had been difficult to focus after a comfortable first set against an out-of-sorts Verdasco.
"It didn't really look like Fernando wanted to be out there, I don't think that's any secret," the eighth seed told reporters after reaching his second final of the year.
"It's almost like playing someone who's injured.
"They're kind of going for broke and they don't have much to lose, they kind of have an excuse. That was tough."
Verdasco had cruised through to the semi-finals but was sloppy early on, winning only 11 points in the opening set.
Against the odds, the Spaniard stormed back to level, only to drop serve in the opening game of the decider before Fish broke again in the ninth to wrap up the match.
Strange match
"The match was so strange today," Verdasco said. "At the beginning he played really good and I played horrible.
"In the second, I played better and he started to miss much more, and in the third set... he served really good and I didn't have too many chances to break him."
Verdasco said defeat would not dent his confidence going into Tuesday's US Open, where he is seeded 13th.
"I need to forget about today, about all the mistakes I made, and try to see everything positively for the Open," he said.
"Just remember how I played all this week. I think I will play well there."
Cilic ended the giant-killing run of Gregorc, a qualifier who began the week ranked 434th, with a 6-3 6-3 victory.
Gregorc had beaten second seed Ivo Karlovic and seventh seed Andreas Seppi on his way to a first ATP Tour semi-final, but found Cilic too strong on the night.
Cilic, set to rise from a career-high 31 when the new rankings are issued on Tuesday, broke once to win the opening set.
Two breaks put him 5-2 up in the second but Gregorc broke back to love, only to then drop his serve again to give Cilic a place in his first ATP Tour final.
"At the beginning of the year it was one of my secret goals to be in my first final, so it feels great to do it," Cilic said.
"I didn't get nervous (when serving for the match at 5-2), he just played a very good game, and I got my game back in the next game to win."
