Melbourne, Australia, 12 January 2012 | AAP

Local hope Bernard Tomic continues to boost his confidence ahead of next week’s Australian Open by reaching the final of the AAMI Classic at Kooyong.

The 19-year-old defeated French star Gael Monfils 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-2) on Thursday for his second consecutive win of the tournament following Wednesday’s victory over world No.7 Tomas Berdych.

He now meets the victor of Friday’s match between American Mardy Fish and Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

Tomic allowed world No.15 Monfils back into the match with a loose second set and in the third set, the Frenchman fought off two match points before the match headed for a deciding tiebreak.

Tomic quickly ran up a 5-0 lead and sealed the result after a long backhand rally.

Earlier, stand-in player Kei Nishikori defeated Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The young Japanese, who is ranked 26 in the world, beat Tsonga 1-6 6-4 6-1.

He was called up at the last minute to replace Canadian Milos Raonic, who pulled out of the event overnight after suffering a stomach upset.

The win was Nishikori’s second over Tsonga after also beating the Frenchman at the ATP Masters at Shanghai in October.

The 22-year-old also scored a rare win over world No.1 Novak Djokovic in Switzerland last year.