Marcos Baghdatis will face Tomas Berdych in the final after ending German hopes today with a 7-6(1) 6-4 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber in 1 hour and 40 minutes of absorbing tennis.

The Cypriot who was 2-2 in career meetings with Kohlschreiber, got off to a brilliant start, racing to a 3-0 lead having broken the German's opening service game, and then had a point for the double break to go up 4-0. However, having failed to capitalise in that game, Baghdatis was made to pay when Kohlschreiber benefited from a couple of outrageous line calls. The first when a forehand from Baghdatis appeared to clip the line for a winner was called out, and then a ball that appeared about a foot long from the German was called in. Baghdatis dropped his racquet in disbelief, appealing to the umpire to no avail. With his concentration temporarily disrupted, Kohlschreiber took full advantage and broke to bring things back on serve.

Baghdatis found himself in trouble serving at 4-4 and 0-40, but crucially saved them all, the first with a forehand winner down the line, the second and third courtesy of errors from his opponent.

With no breaks thereafter, Baghdatis seized control of the set once again in the tiebreaker. Having got the first mini break when Kohlschreiber put a backhand half volley long, the Cypriot coasted to 5-0, driving the German side to side and coming to the net to put away simple volleys. He clinched the 53 minute set with a service winner with a defiant roar.
 

In the second set, Baghdatis had plenty of chances to break early on; 2 break points in the opening game and another 5 in the fifth game, but failed to convert.

Kohlschreiber then attempted to punish the Cypriot at 0-40 in the sixth game. However, with an ace out wide, an ace up the ‘T' and a wild forehand from Kohlschreiber that landed several feet long to the collective despair of the home crowd, Baghdatis averted danger and two points later it was 3-3.

Baghdatis engineered further break point opportunities in the seventh game and finally broke on his seventh break point opportunity of the set with a forehand drop shot winner which the German running forward at full tilt could not dig up.

Holding serve from there, Baghdatis moved into the final on his second match point which he converted with a huge service winner.

"After the bad calls I start to lose my nerves", Baghdatis admitted. "I was a bit nervous after that; I wanted so bad to win. I was a bit fired up.

"But I'm pretty happy I found the solution because Philipp was playing good tennis; it was not easy out there."

Looking ahead to his match with Berdych, Baghdatis believes the key will be his returns.

"He serves pretty big and I think I will have to return all the time and make him play and make him doubt on his serve.

"It's the final; it's my birthday so I have good chances I think. I'm playing pretty good, pretty solid and I think I have to stay focused and like I said before find the solution to return and make him play and then to serve well and not to have difficulty on my serve. But the key is to stay focused."

Kohlschreiber, who has had a great week and may be ranked high enough to receive a seeding at Wimbledon after this event said:
"Why be sad about the match today. I had chances, but it was a great week. I played good tennis in Germany. That's two good things for me. Also, I beat a lot of good guys. Marcos played the semi-final in Wimbledon last year, so I think he's a really great player on grass like we could see today. I look forward to Wimbledon now. I feel good on grass. With a good draw, I can go far in the tournament."

Listen to what Baghdatis said to press conference after the match.

Andre Jones
Gerry Weber Stadium
Halle

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