Roger Federer will play for a record-extending ninth Wimbledon title in his 12 final at the All England Club after beating Rafael Nadal 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court.
The 20-time Grand Slam singles champion will face Novak Djokovic for the title on Sunday.
Federer's serve served him well against his Spanish rival, who won their last meeting at Wimbledon in the 2008 final - taking the epic fifth set 9-7 as darkness descended. The Swiss great finished with 14 aces this time and landed 69% of his first serves. Federer won his record eighth Wimbledon title in 2017, but lost to Djokovic in the final in both 2014 and 2015.
Earlier on Friday, Novak Djokovic reached his sixth final. World number one and four-time Wimbledon winner Djokovic booked his 25th Grand Slam final appearance with a nervy 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Spain's 23rd seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
"This has been a remarkable tournament for me and to be in another final is a dream come true," said the top seed.
"I had to dig deep, Roberto was playing his first semi-final at a Grand Slam and he was not really overwhelmed.
"It was a really close opening four to five games of the third set that could have gone either way - thankfully it went mine."
The 32-year-old will go into Sunday's final seeking a 16th major title with a career advantage over both his great rivals.
He leads Federer 25-22 and Nadal 28-26.
"I will watch Federer and Nadal. I am a fan of that match up - it's one of the most epic rivalries of all time."
Watched by a Royal Box crammed with sports and movie A-listers - David Beckham, Rod Laver, Gary Player, Jude Law, Damian Lewis - Djokovic swept through the first set with breaks in the second and eighth games.
It seemed certain that Djokovic was going to spend a lot less time on court in this semi-final compared to 12 months ago when he needed five sets and five hours and 15 minutes to beat Nadal.
However, Bautista Agut, who had already defeated the Serb twice this year, eventually settled and broke for 2-1 in the second set.
Djokovic fought off two break points, via a 23-shot rally, in the fifth game.
But the 31-year-old Bautista Agut held his nerve to eventually level the semi-final at 6-4 off a fortuitous net cord.
Djokovic, increasingly irritated by a restless crowd, broke for 4-2 in the third set and held for 5-2 off the back of a lung-busting 45-shot rally.
The set was secured, ironically off another net cord which fell this time in the Serb's favour. Bautista Agut, who had planned to be in Ibiza this week for his stag party, fought off break points in the opening game of the fourth set.
But Djokovic was relentless and tightened his grip, breaking twice for a 4-1 lead, and eventually claimed victory on a fifth match point.
