Roger Federer, Martin del Potro seal finals clash in Swiss Indoors

Basel, Switzerland (4E Sports) – World No. 1 Roger Federer defeated French wild card Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-5, 6-4, Saturday to arrange a showdown against second seed Martin del Potro of Argentina in the final of the Swiss Indoors Basel.

Federer, who fired 10 aces and converted two of four break-point chances to clinch the win in 86 minutes, is gunning for a sixth title in the hometown tournament that he won from 2006 to 2008 and 2010 to 2011.

Standing in his way is del Potro, who broke third seed Richard Gasquet thrice en route to a 6-2, 6-2 victory in 67 minutes.

“We had a couple of tough ones at Roland Garros and the Olympics. We can look back at some great matches and hopefully live up to another one tomorrow. I’m ready to go,” Federer said, referring to his clash with del Potro.

In their head-to-head matchup, Federer leads 13-2 and has won his last seven matches against del Potro. A victory over del Potro will move Federer to a tie with John McEnroe with 875 match wins and 77 career singles title

“I played better than yesterday. I know I have to play better tomorrow if I want to win this tournament. I’m going step by step and enjoying this victory against Gasquet. It’s going to be a difficult final for me but I will be ready to play,” del Potro said.

Meanwhile, top seed David Ferrer reached the Valencia Open 500 final for the fourth time Saturday after beating Croatian qualifier Ivan Dodig, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1, in two hours and 42 minutes.

Ferrer will gun for his sixth ATP title of the season against Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, who dismissed Austria’s Jurgen Melzer, 6-4, 6-2, in 74 minutes.

On the women’s side, world No. 2 Maria Sharapova defeated top-ranked Victoria Azarenka, 6-4, 6-2 Saturday to reach the final of the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships-Istanbul 2012.

The Russian hit 17 winners while Azarenka, who was awarded with the year-end No. 1 trophy before the match, committed 13 unforced errors.

“I certainly didn’t make as many mistakes today as I did in our previous matches this year. I also returned a little bit better this time, although I still feel like I could have returned better than I did today,” Sharapova said.

In the final, Sharapova will square off against Serena Williams, who beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, in 61 minutes.

Williams leads Sharapova, 9-2, in their head-to-head matchup and has won their last seven meetings, including two clashes this year.

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