Montreal, Aug 11: World number one Roger Federer today eased into the final of the Montreal Masters with a 7-6 6-2 victory over unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek.
Stepanek pushed the top seed hard in the opening set but once Federer had won the tiebreak 8-6, he cruised through to a meeting with world number two Rafael Nadal of Spain or third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
The Czech, who had won 12 of his past 14 matches, had Federer 0-40 in the seventh game but the Swiss fought back.
Stepanek then saved three set points in the tiebreak before Federer rifled a forehand return for a winner to take the set and then broke twice in the second set.
Reuters>
Stepanek pushed the top seed hard in the opening set but once Federer had won the tiebreak 8-6, he cruised through to a meeting with world number two Rafael Nadal of Spain or third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
The Czech, who had won 12 of his past 14 matches, had Federer 0-40 in the seventh game but the Swiss fought back.
Stepanek then saved three set points in the tiebreak before Federer rifled a forehand return for a winner to take the set and then broke twice in the second set.
Reuters>
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