Baghdatis was on the verge of surrendering to the Argentine as he was down two sets, but the 20-year-old Cypriot fought back to grab the third and fourth sets and recovered a break in the decider to seal a 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win and reach his first Grand Slam final.

"It's like a dream, I have to wake up I think because it's unbelievable - I don't know what to say - it's just amazing,” 54th-ranked Baghdatis was quoted as saying by the ATP official website.

"It's a dream [of mine] to play here and win this tournament - I believe it, my coach believes it, the guys I work with believe it, my parents believe it - I work for that and I believe in it," said Baghdatis, who knocked out Andy Roddick and Ivan Ljubicic earlier this week.

The 2003 Australian Open junior champion was out of words when he was asked to explain how he turned around the match against Masters Cup reigning champion, Nalbandian.

"To tell you the truth I don't really know," Baghdatis said frankly.

"I'm playing amazing tennis, I just stopped thinking and just played my tennis, tried to be very aggressive and everything was going in. I'm just in my own world right now I think.”

Baghdatis awaits the winner from the semifinal clash between top-seeded Roger Federer, who beat the Cypriot in the fourth round in 2005, and Nicolas Kiefer.

Baghdatis will be looking to become the second player in history, after Stefan Edberg, to win both junior and senior titles at the Australian Open.