Tomas Berdych is into the final of the Gerry Weber Open for the second year in a row following an impressive 7-6(5) 6-4 victory over Jarkko Nieminen in 84 minutes of often brutal hitting.

The fourth seeded Czech is looking to go one better following his loss to Roger Federer last year, and his prospects look good if he can maintain the standard of powerful serving and hitting that he displayed in this match.

With both men holding their serves throughout the opening set without so much as a break point between them, it meant that the tiebreaker would decide the outcome.

Berdych got the first mini break to go 3-2 ahead when the Fin netted a mid-court forehand, but then lost the advantage in the next point when an attempted forehand drop shot played just inside the service line almost failed to reach the net.

The powerful Czech redeemed himself however, and reached double set point with a forehand winner. Two points later he took the set with a huge forehand drive deep to the Nieminen backhand wing which the Fin netted.

Berdych saved a break point in his opening service game of the second set with a forehand winner down the line, and clinched the game with a superb backhand drive that clipped the sideline for an outright winner down the line.

Berdych was in trouble again serving at 2-2 when the left handed Fin steered a running forehand down the line for a winner. This time the Fin broke when Berdych donated the game with a double fault, and he consolidated the break by holding for 4-2.

From there Berdych stepped up a gear as his penetrating groundstrokes hit with ever increasing ferocity began to overwhelm the scampering Fin whose loopy shots sat up nicely for the ruthless Czech.

Nieminen quickly found himself at 0-40 in the eighth game, and although he bravely fought off the first two break points, Berdych broke on the third when the anguished Fin netted a short ball.

Berdych held to love for 5-4 and then launched another assault on the Fin service game when he unleashed a ferocious backhand winner down the line in the opening point. He quickly reached his first match point at 30-40, forcing errors from the Fin's racquet with his superior firepower off the ground. Although he wasted the first opportunity to close out the match when his attempted forehand winner went several feet long, he made no mistake on the second two points later; a sublime two-handed backhand driven with such tremendous pace that it beat Nieminen at his baseline for an outright winner. Berdych was in the final once again, and how!

"Last year it was kind of a surprise", Berdych said concerning his place in the final. "I never said before that the grass was going to be my good surface and I can reach the finals, and now this year that I'm back in the final it is very good for me and now I hope that I can make the last step and make it better than last year.

"This year I know that I can play well on the grass and when I see my opponent I just have to think that I'm the favourite to win the match."

Listen to press conference with Tomas Berdych after he beat Nieminen.

Andre Jones
Gerry Weber Open
Halle