Federer beats big-serving Karlovic to reach final

Roger Federer plays a forehand in his match against Ivo Karlovic of Croatia during day six of the Gerry Weber Open. Picture: Getty

Federer defeated big-serving Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) yesterday while Seppi won the other semi-final after second-seeded Kei Nishikori pulled out injured when the Italian was leading 4-1.

The Japanese player had his lower left leg bandaged and was in clear discomfort.

Seppi also had a short quarter-final on Friday when fourth-seeded Gael Monfils pulled out with a right knee injury when Seppi led 6-1, 1-0.

In contrast to Federer, Seppi was playing his first semi-final in his sixth appearance at Halle.

Federer won just five points on Karlovic’s serve in the first set but made a mini-break to go 4-3 up in the first tie-breaker. He won the set on Karlovic’s double-fault.

In the second tie-breaker, Federer correctly challenged a call that would have put Karlovic ahead 4-3 and secured another mini-break when Karlovic hit a return into the net. He took the first of two match points to wrap up the match in one hour, 28 minutes.

“I’m relieved to have got through the match. It was always my aim to defend the title,” said Federer, who will be going for his third straight title at Halle today.

Karlovic was not broken all week and the eighth-seeded Croat hit 45 aces in Friday’s quarter-finals, an ATP record for a best-of-three-sets match.

He had 20 aces yesterday but couldn’t prevent Federer from moving a step closer to claiming his 15th title on grass.

“Sometimes you can’t do anything,” Federer said of Karlovic’s serve. “You have to hope for a bit of luck or that you don’t make a mistake at an important moment. The whole match can change in a moment. Thankfully it went well, though I had a bit of luck in the tiebreak.”

Federer’s only losses in the final at Halle came against Lleyton Hewitt in 2010 and Tommy Haas in 2012.