DOHA - Top seed and champion Roger Federer stormed into the Qatar Open final with a 6-3 6-3 win over Germany's Tommy Haas today.
The Swiss will contest his 43rd career final against French seventh seed Gael Monfils, who beat Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-3 6-4 in the other semifinal.
Federer began cautiously before breaking Haas, who was attempting to reach his first title match since winning in Los Angeles in July 2004, for a 4-3 lead with a lunging forehand winner.
After gaining the psychological advantage, Federer reeled off the next two games at love and clinched the set in 45 minutes.
Haas was quickly left floundering in the second set as he tried to mix up his game to confuse the world number one, only to produce a series of errors.
With Haas unable to handle Federer's vicious forehands, the Swiss forged ahead 5-2 and wrapped up the match in 80 minutes.
"I'm pleased my game but it wasn't an easy match," Federer told reporters after extending his head-to-head record against Haas to 4-2.
"We were pushing each other in the beginning. We were almost even. Both of us had our chances early on.
"I started to play better after breaking him in the seventh game and I didn't look back after that. I made sure that my game was working well."
Monfils quickly gained the upper hand by breaking Volandri in the second game en route to capturing the first set but he then lost his focus midway through the second set.
He relinquished a 2-0 lead and allowed Volandri to move 4-2 ahead after the Italian had won four games in a row.
The Frenchman kept his composure to stem the flow of errors and ended Volandri's challenge with some quality tennis.
"I'm thrilled and excited to be in the final," Monfils, the second Frenchman to reach the Doha final in the last three years, said.
- REUTERS
