Roger Federer halts Ivo Karlovic's march to reach Gerry Weber Open final

Roger Federer attempts a forehand in his win over Ivo Karlovic in the semifinals

Roger Federer looked in imperious form in his 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) win over Ivo Karlovic in the semifinals of the Gerry Weber Open.

Karlovic, who hit a record 45 aces in his previous match against Tomas Berdych on Friday,found his rhythm early on in the match. The Croat dropped just five points off his serve in the opening set that went to a tie-break. Federer, though wasn’t ruffled as he waited to pounce on any error from the 36-year-old.

A sensational backhand return put tremendous pressure on Karlovic, before he double faulted on set point to hand Federer a one set lead.

There were no breaks of serve in the second set as well leading to a tie-break.

Federer stayed patient in the breaker winning two points on Karlovic’s serve before sealing the win with a backhand volley.

“It comes down to a shot here or there,” said Federer. “I guess I deserved it because I stayed calm. It was a tough match, I knew that going in. I was struggling to read his serve in the first set, but handled it better in the second set.

“It’s just a bit of a grind: physically, it’s like easy; mentally, rough.”

Federer will take on Andreas Seppi in the final on Sunday. Seppi’s opponent, Kei Nishikori retired from the semifinal due to a calf injury.

“I hurt it yesterday during the match [against Jerzy Janowicz of Poland] and fought through, but felt a bit of pain today,” said Nishikori. “With an injury it’s never easy to win and I didn’t want to take a big risk for Wimbledon.”

Seppi has won only match win over Federer in their 12 meetings.