HALLE, Germany — World No. 2 Roger Federer edged past Ivo Karlovic 7-6(3) 7-6(4) Saturday to reach the Halle Open final for the 10th time where he will face Italian Andreas Seppi, who went through when opponent Kei Nishikori retired injured. The Swiss top seed, eyeing his eighth title in the grasscourt Wimbledon warmup event, held serve throughout but was taken to two tiebreaks having failed to secure a single break point against the Croatian's powerful serve. "It is always complicated to play against Ivo but I remained calm when it mattered," Federer told reporters. "I was lucky in the first round (needing three sets against Philipp Kohlschreiber) so I am happy to have made the final." Seppi advanced to his second final of the year after Zagreb when Japan's Nishikori, the second seed, retired injured early in the first set. It was the second time in two days that the Italian had gone through thanks to an injury retirement, after he reached the last four Friday when France's Gael Monfils conceded in the second set. Nishikori, who was moving poorly with his left leg heavily bandaged, lasted only five games before quitting. Anderson in Queen's final South Africa's Kevin Anderson blitzed his way into his first Queen's Club final with 34 aces in a 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3 win over French seventh seed Gilles Simon Saturday. Anderson's lethal serve proved the decisive factor in a hard-fought semifinal at the Wimbledon warm-up event and the world No. 17 will face either top seed Andy Murray or Serbia's Viktor Troicki in Sunday's final in west London. Pliskova conquers giant-killer Karolina Pliskova, the tall, steep-serving Czech with the tattoos and an increasing penchant for grass, beat both the rain and the week's greatest giant-killer to reach the final in Birmingham Saturday. Pliskova's 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) much-interrupted win over Kristina Mladenovic, the unseeded French player who had downed three seeds, also took her to a fourth final of the year and close to a place in the top 10 for the first time. Pliskova, meanwhile, was due to reach the top 10 if Angelique Kerber, the fourth-seeded German, failed to win the other semifinal against her compatriot Sabine Lisicki, the former Wimbledon finalist. Robson thrashed on return Laura Robson suffered a miserable return to action after her 17-month injury lay-off as the former British No. 1 was thrashed by Daria Gavrilova 6-0, 6-1 in the first qualifying round of the WTA tournament in Eastbourne Saturday. Robson had been sidelined since last year's Australian Open with a wrist problem before a hamstring injury forced her to postpone a planned comeback at the recent French Open. The former junior Wimbledon champion this week finally declared herself fit enough to enter the grass-court event at Eastbourne after she was offered a late wildcard. Australia-born Robson could still be included in the second set of wild cards for Wimbledon, which gets underway on June 29. — Agencies
