Philipp Petzschner win sets up all-German final

Philipp Petzschner stunned last year's Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych with a thrilling 7-6 2-6 6-3 semi-final win at Halle yesterday to set up an all-German final against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

World No.71 Petzschner, Wimbledon men's doubles champion last year, outsmarted the world No.7 and second seed with a mix of powerful serves, sliced crosscourt backhands and drop shots that threw the Czech off balance.

Kohlschreiber eased past world No.8 Gael Monfils in straight sets to set up the tournament's first all-German final for 19 years.

Berdych, favourite since the withdrawal of top seed Roger Federer, struggled in the first set with both players holding serve early on and the German's serve pinning him back. An audacious drop shot earned Berdych two set points at 5-4 which Petzschner fought off with an ace and another powerful serve that the Czech sent wide.

The pair wasted a set point each in the tiebreak before the 27-year-old German snatched it when Berdych sunk a forehand into the net.

The second set was a completely different story with Berdych racing to a 4-0 lead as Petzschner suffered one of his infamous blackouts.

He recovered in time for the start of the third set to break his opponent and go 5-2 up, clinching a place in his first ATP final since 2008.