Gael Monfils continued to pick off the seeds at the Poertschach International on Friday with a 6-4, 7-5 win over fourth seed Lleyton Hewitt [ Images ], setting up a final showdown with Juan Monaco.

Just 24 hours after showing second seed Andy Roddick [ Images ] the exit, the French wildcard ended Hewitt's challenge at the final tournament before the French Open [ Images ] begins on Sunday.

Argentina's Monaco, who ended defending champion Nikolay Davydenko's [ Images ] campaign in the quarter-finals, enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4 win over Luis Horna of Peru.

For the second week running, Hewitt fell agonisingly short of reaching the final of a claycourt event.

After losing to Roland Garros [ Images ] champion Rafael Nadal [ Images ] in the Hamburg semi-finals last week, Hewitt was again left ruing a wasted opportunity when he was pipped by gangly Frenchman Monfils.

"I just didn't take my chances, I had a set point in the second set, he came up with a big ace and he just played the big points a bit better than I did today," said the Australian, who has been drawn to face Belarussian Max Mirnyi [ Images ] in the first round in Paris.

"He's a talented player, he beat Roddick fairly comfortably yesterday, he's a tough play on clay as he moves so well.

"It's been a good week for me, played some good matches against claycourt players...hopefully I can take some of the positives from this week and from Hamburg into Paris."

The 20-year-old snatched the first set with one break and romped to a 4-2 lead in the second. 

Hewitt's battling instincts resurfaced as he fought back to go 5-4 ahead.

Inexplicably he lost momentum and allowed Monfils to win three straight games and a place in the final with a scorching ace.

"I want to win this tournament before the French, where everything will be different. There will be more pressure as it will be in front of family. I don't want to think about it before I get there," said Monfils.