Vasek Pospisil is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final in 14 months after beating Daniel Brands 6-3, 6-3 at the Valencia Open on Friday.

The Canadian notched his 25th win of the season as he broke Brands three times for victory in 74 minutes. Pospisil reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final earlier in the year at Wimbledon (l. to Murray) and also reached the last eight in Atlanta (l. to Baghdatis) and Kuala Lumpur (l. to Lopez).

Pospisil will look to reach his second ATP World Tour final when he faces Joao Sousa on Saturday. The Vernon native finished runner-up to countryman Milos Raonic in his maiden final at the Citi Open in Washington in August 2014.

Sousa saved all five break points he faced to defeat Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 32 minutes. The Portuguese will face Pospisil for the second time this season, having beaten the Canadian in the first round at Roland Garros.

The 26-year-old Sousa is bidding to reach his fourth ATP World Tour final of the season after runner-up finishes in Geneva (l. to Bellucci), Umag (l. to Thiem) and St. Petersburg (l. to Raonic). He has compiled a 36-31 record in his career-best season.