Roger Federer is through to the final in Halle for the 10th time after beating giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 7-6 in Saturday’s semi-final.
The Swiss, who has won the title seven times, will face Italian Andreas Seppi, who went through when opponent Kei Nishikori retired injured.
World No 2 and top seed Federer needed two tiebreakers to claim a 13th win in 14 meetings with Karlovic.
The Croat, who stands 2.11 metres 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.
“I’m relieved to have got through the match. It was always my aim to defend the title.
“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 tiebreaker.”
Seppi advanced to his second final of the year after Zagreb when Japan’s Nishikori, the second seed, retired injured early in the first set.
It was the second time in two days that the Italian had gone through thanks to an injury retirement, after he reached the last four on Friday when France’s Gael Monfils conceded in the second set. Nishikori, who was moving poorly with his left leg heavily bandaged, lasted only five games before quitting.
Federer is chasing a 15th title on grass as he warms up for Wimbledon, which begins on June 29.
Nishikori now faces a race to be fit for Wimbledon.
“I felt it yesterday during the quarter-final (against Jerzy Janowicz) and I fought through it,” he said. “But there was a little pain this morning and I tried in the match, but couldn’t really move.
“I don’t want to take a big risk for Wimbledon, so I just retired from the match.”
Nishikori, who enjoyed his best Wimbledon performance in 2014 when he reached the fourth round, said he was hopeful that the injury would not be serious.
“I cannot say much because I have to see how it will be the next couple of days. But I’m sure it’s going to be OK. It’s no big deal,” he said.
At the Aegon Championships in London, Kevin Anderson made the final of the Queen’s Club tournament with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 victory over Gilles Simon of France.
The unseeded South African did it in style, striking his 34th ace to seal victory and bring his total of aces in the tournament to 96.
Anderson will appear in his second final of the year today after winning his 12th career title at Marseille in February.
But he was waiting to learn the identity of his opponent, as the match between Andy Murray and Viktor Troicki was suspended because of rain.
With the score level at 3-3, Murray had just secured a break point following a fall from Troicki that left the Serb clutching his left shoulder in pain.
Troicki called for a medical timeout, and before play could resume the rain started to fall, sending the players scurrying back to the locker room.
They returned soon after when the drizzle relented, but before a ball was struck heavier rain began to fall and the sky turned increasingly black, prompting a delay of over an hour.
Rain does not stop Pliskova
Karolina Pliskova, the tall, steep-serving Czech with the tattoos and an increasing penchant for grass, beat both the rain and the week’s greatest giant-killer to reach the final at Birmingham. Pliskova’s 6-2, 7-6 much-interrupted win over Kristina Mladenovic, the unseeded French player who had downed three seeds, also took her to a fourth final of the year and close to a place in the women’s top 10 for the first time. “The end of the match was key,” said Pliskova, who will face Germany’s Angelique Kerber, the tournament’s fourth seed in today’s final. Kerber defeated Sabine Lisicki, the eighth seed, 6-3, 6-3.
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