Roger Federer is through to the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle for the 10th time after beating 6'11" Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), in Saturday's semi-final.
The Swiss, who has won the title seven times, will go on to face the winner of the second semi-final between Japan's world number five Kei Nishikori and Italy's Andreas Seppi.
World number two and top seed Federer needed two tie-breaks to claim a 13th win in 14 meetings with Karlovic. The Croat, who stands 2.11m (6'11") tall, had battered down 45 aces in his quarter-final victory against Czech Tomas Berdych on Friday, but against Federer he managed a mere 21.
"It is always difficult to play against Ivo but the important thing was that I remained calm," Federer said. "I was very lucky in the first set and so I'm all the more delighted to be in the final again."
Federer is chasing a 15th title on grass as he warms up for Wimbledon, which begins on June 29.
{{/usCountry}}Federer is chasing a 15th title on grass as he warms up for Wimbledon, which begins on June 29.
{{/usCountry}}He beat Nishikori in the semi-finals in Halle a year ago while he has only lost once in 12 previous meetings with Seppi, although that came in the third round of this year's Australian Open.