Roger Federer's 16-match winning streak was ended by his nemesis Tim Henman 6-3, 7-6 in the World Indoor Tournament quarter-finals on Friday.
The Briton's reward for handing the world number one his first defeat in almost four months was a semi-final against his own bogeyman, Australia's Lleyton Hewitt.
World number one Federer had entered the Ahoy centre court with revenge on his mind as Henman had beaten the Swiss in five of their previous six meetings.
It was against Henman that Federer last tasted defeat in a competitive match, in October at the Paris Masters.
Since then Federer has collected his second Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open and climbed to the top of the tennis ladder.
"My record against Roger is something I can't explain," Henman told reporters. "My style of play obviously has an impact on his game.
"But it also puts it into perspective my record against Hewitt," he added referring to his six defeats by the Australian.
"Hewitt's a guy I've really struggled against and I'm really looking forward to the opportunity tomorrow (Saturday) to get my first win."
The players entered the arena to the strains of Robbie Williams's hit "Let Me Entertain You" and did just that in a high quality first set.
Henman knew he had the weapons to beat Federer and used them astutely to break the Swiss in the eighth game of the opening set.
Having earned the first break point of the match with a forehand winner, the fifth seed forced Federer to hit a backhand wide to snatch a 5-3 lead.
Predictably, the British number one's game became shaky as he tried to close out the set and he sent down a double fault on his second set point.
He made no mistake on the third attempt, winning it when Federer loosely tapped a backhand into the net.
DELECTABLE LOB
While the first set featured mostly winners, the second became a test of nerves.
An early exchange of breaks set the pattern for the next few games as both struggled to hold serve.
Henman, three-times a losing finalist here, succumbed again in the sixth game as he dropped his serve with yet another double fault.
Federer, however, failed to take advantage as Henman immediately broke back with an emphatic smash and the set headed into a tiebreak.
The top seed charged into a 5-1 lead and held five set points but it was Henman who managed to hold his game together.
Having earned his second match point, he sent Federer scrambling to the baseline with a delectable lob.
A surprised Federer was forced to improvise and hit the ball back between his legs but slapped the next shot into the net to hand Henman the tiebreak 11-9.
The defeat left Federer with a feeling of deja vu, especially since his only victory over Henman came two years ago when the Briton had to retire with a neck injury in Miami.
