In a clash between the master against the apprentice, it was the young German who won a superb contest 7-5 7-6 (7-5) to reach Sunday's final where he will play either world No 1 Novak Djokovic or Kevin Anderson.
Zverev, who is the youngest player at 21 to reach the semi-finals since 2009 and the first from Germany since Rainer Schuettler in 2003, was not allowing Swiss icon Federer, playing in his 15th semi-final in 16 appearances, an inch during the first set which was living up to its billing.
Zverev, playing in the last four at the ATP Finals for the first time, was showing no signs of nerves as he happily traded huge groundstrokes and stunned the 20-time Grand Slam champion with a break to love in the 12th game to take the opener in 40 minutes.
The 37-year-old Federer came into the contest with a 3-2 career record over Zverev, with the most recent meeting between the oldest and youngest player in the tournament a three-set victory for the Swiss at last year's ATP Finals during the round-robin stage.
His run came to an end at the semi-final stage to Belgium's David Goffin, but Federer was determined for history not to repeat itself and he wrestled the momentum away from the 6ft 6in German to break for a 2-1 lead in the second set.
But Zverev responded to immediately restore parity in stunning fashion in a topsy-turvy affair, with the sold-out O2 crowd lapping up proceedings, while the set headed into a tie-break.
The match ended on an unsavoury note, though, when a ball boy dropped a ball during a rally during the breaker.
Zverev rightly asked for a let but the Federer fans in the crowd were unhappy that the point was replayed.
The decisive moment came when a routine missed volley by Federer handed Zverev two match points. He saved the first of them, but he got the job done on serve with a fine volley.
(Sky Sports)
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