The second-seeded Nadal was in trouble in the ninth game of the second set at a set down and 30-30 on his serve. But Baghdatis missed a simple pass up the line and the Spaniard broke Baghdatis in the next game.

Nadal will play David Nalbandian in the final, after he beat 10th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France 6-2, 6-4 to stay on course for his second straight Masters title. Nalbandian won at Madrid last month.

Nadal lost 6-1, 6-2 to Nalbandian in the quarterfinals there, but said his form has improved in Paris.

"My expectations were only to play well, so I didn't think about (reaching) the final," Nadal said. "I said before the tournament that I just wanted to play good because my goal was to finish the season with good feelings. Today I started playing very good."

Gasquet has now earned enough points to reach the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, China, because Baghdatis can no longer catch him.

All eight spots have been filled. Gasquet joins Roger Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick, David Ferrer and Fernando Gonzalez for the Nov. 11-18 event.

Nadal reached his first final since beating Stanislas Wawrinka to win the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, on July 22.

Nadal raced to a 3-0 lead but Baghdatis broke back twice and then saved three break points on his serve to lead 5-3.

"Marcos started playing very well inside the court and I got a little bit behind the baseline," Nadal said. "I played a little bit shorter and Marcos all the time went inside the court and hit winners."

With the Spaniard struggling on serve, Baghdatis broke him again for a 2-0 lead in the second set, only for Nadal to break back to 3-3.

"It's tough to lose a match (when) you're a set up, a break up, and everything's under control," Baghdatis said. "Maybe I (made) some mistakes, but it's because he put his level up a bit. He put pressure on me. He wasn't missing a ball, so it was tough."

Baghdatis praised Nadal for playing at "500 percent," even though his opponent had already qualified for Shanghai.