Madrid, May 13 (IANS) Roger Federer defeated Janko Tipsarevic while Tomas Berdych edged past Juan Martin del Potro to set-up the men's singles final at the Madrid Open tennis tournament here.
Swiss great Federer dispatched Serbia's Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-3 and will play for the World No.2 ranking in Sunday's final.
World No. 7 Berdych had to dig deep for a 7-6, 7-6 win against del Potro in the other semifinal Saturday.
Federer is the clear favourite in the final after a commanding performance against the Serb, who upset his World NO. 1 compatriot Novak Djokovic in the last eight stage.
A win for Federer will make him surpass Rafael Nadal in the rankings and would give him a third title here after 2006 and 2009.
The Swiss maestro is leading 14-10 in his head-to-head record against Berdych including two victories in as many matches on clay.
Federer, however, did not read to much into his past record against the Czech player.
"It is going to be a tough match. Berdych is playing well himself," said Federer.
"It is quick conditions and he can be a big threat in the finals like that. I expect quick points and big shots from both sides.
"I hope I can play a big match on my serve and take it from there. I think that we match up pretty well against each other because of the shot making," he said of Berdych, who advanced after a 2-hour 18 minute battle with del Potro.
Berdych came from a break down to clinch the first set 7-5 on tie-break.
He let the Argentine come back in the second set after being comfortably placed at 3-1. But he once again held his nerved in the tie-break, winning it 7-6 to reach his third ATP Masters final.
"I definitely felt that (del Potro) was going to be the toughest one so far in the tournament, that was for sure. As I started I already had the feeling that he is going to be right and that it was going to be a tough game. I was confident to go for the match; I believed in myself and that I could do it," said Berdych.
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