Petzschner, Kohlschreiber in all-German Halle final

Crowd-favourite Philipp Petzschner set up an all-German final at the Halle ATP tournament after a hard-fought semi-final win over second-seed Tomas Berdych on Saturday Having beaten eighth-seed Milos Raonic in the quarter-final, Petzschner knocked-out 2007 Halle champion Berdych 7-6 (9/7), 2-6, 6-3 in two hours, 19 minutes. Petzschner, 80th in the world, has grown in confidence as the week progressed and is looking comfortable on the firm grass surface of Halle's centre court where he will face compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber in Sunday's final. "For me, it was a sensational match - I had some luck and a lot of fighting spirit," said Petzschner. "Tomas played really well and I would have been happy, even if I had lost. "I took my chances and tomorrow, Philipp and I will meet each other eye-to-eye. "I'll sleep well and I am looking forward to it, especially as Philipp is my Davis Cup team-mate." Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up, lost the first set tie-breaker, but then roared back to take a 4-0 lead in the second before serving out the set. However in the deciding set, the German floored the Czech, sixth in the ATP rankings, to book his place in the final and having reached the semi-finals last year, Petzschner has now gone one better. Kohlschreiber will be bidding to win his third career ATP title following his 6-3, 6-3 semi-final win over France's Gael Monfils. After winning titles in Munich in 2007 and Auckland in 2008, this is the second time 27-year-old Kohlschreiber has reached the final in Halle, having lost the 2008 tournament finale to Roger Federer. "I played a really good game," said Kohlschreiber. "My game plan worked well, I managed to get an early break and did everything right tactically. "I used my slice well and I won the big points when I needed to. "Although Monfils is super-fast, I managed to stop him a few times and put him under pressure. "It is been a great week for me here, but regardless of who makes the final, it will be the hardest match of the week." Despite normally struggling on grass, Monfils has surprised himself by playing extremely well in Halle and has become a crowd favourite, but offered Kohlschreiber little resistance when it mattered most. The second set started almost identically to the first -- a quick break for Kohlschreiber in the first service game put him in control and the 24-year-old Frenchman did not have a single chance to break the German in the whole match. "Philipp played very well and I am happy for him that he has reached the final," said Monfils. "I just made too many mistakes and my whole rhythm was completely gone. I am happy that I could play four matches on grass - this was a very good preparation." The Frenchman seemed to let the occasion get to him as he double-faulted six times in the match, five of which came in the first set alone. Despite Halle's firm turf favouring the big hitters, the contest was more about finesse than power as Kohlschreiber, ranked 49th in the world, produced the only ace of the match in the second set. Kohlschreiber needed only 77 minutes to claim victory and the scalp of Monfils, ranked ninth in the world, to give himself a grasscourt boost with Wimbledon set to start on June 20.