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World No.54 Rinderknech threw caution to the wind after losing the first set to the Russian, who beat Australia's Alex de Minaur in the quarter-final to make the last four.

Rinderknech sealed an early break and saved five break points in a 12-minute game to go 3-0 up in the second set.

Medvedev struggled with the 30-year-old Frenchman's strong returns, finding the net from the baseline multiple times as Rinderknech won the second set 6-2, with Vacherot watching from the stands having upset Novak Djokovic in his semi-final.

A decisive break secured the third set for Rinderknech, as Medvedev saved the first match point with a 207km/h serve down the middle, but gave away the second with a double fault.

"I can't even say it's a dream because I don't think even one person in our family dreamt about it," Rinderknech said about facing his cousin in the final.

"It was a dream that came out of nowhere."

When asked about the semi-final, Rinderknech admitted he was aiming to wear out Medvedev to help his cousin in the final, rather than making it through himself.

"I was like, you know what? Maybe I'm going to lose, but I'm going to fight like crazy," Rinderknech said.

"I'm going to make him tired for tomorrow and at least I'm going to help [Valentin] to at least try to start the match a little bit ahead physically.

"Then somehow I got the break and then another one finished the set and then I was like, you know what? I'm just going to try everything and give it my best and somehow it worked out."