Duo set up Chennai Open final clash after comfortable semi-final wins
Top seed Janko Tipsarevic will play Milos Raonic in the final of the Chennai Open after both players secured dominant semi-final wins.
Sebian world number nine Tipsarevic ended the run of Go Soeda with a 6-1 6-4 victory, while Canadian youngster Raonic defeated second seed Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-4.
Raonic, who was named the ATP newcomer of the year in 2011, fired 17 aces past his Spanish opponent and heads into the final on Sunday having not dropped a set in the whole tournament.
"There was nothing I could do to stop him," world number 10 Almagro said.
"He is one of the best servers in the game and one of the best players on hard court. There was nothing wrong with my game, he was just too good for me today."
Raonic went into the clash having lost his last five matches against opponents ranked in the top 10 and believes the victory shows his improvement as a player.
Hard work
"My game is suited to hard court and I feel very comfortable on it. I think I have served well all week and also returned well. The hard work I have put in is paying off," Raonic said.
"As a young player, the main aim is to develop and improve my game. I have the potential to play with the top players. The rankings will follow."
Tipsarevic had been eliminated in the Chennai semi-finals in for two years running but made no mistake this time as he broke the Japanese player twice in the first set to take control of the contest.
Another break of serve followed in the seventh game of the second set before the 27-year-old duly wrapped up the victory in 79 minutes.
Qualifier Soeda had dumped out defending champion Stanislas Warinka in the last eight and said he was happy to reach his first ATP semi-final.
He said: "It was a good lesson for me - I tried my best, but he played really good tennis. I will go happy from here because I won six matches."
