Saturday 25 October 2014 21:48, UK
Top seed Roger Federer beat Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (10-8) 3-6 6-3 in Basel to reach a ninth consecutive Swiss Indoors final and his 11th overall.
The Swiss veteran, who is chasing his sixth Swiss Indoors title after finishing runner-up the past two years, will meet David Goffin after the Belgian kept up his remarkable run of form by defeating teenage wild card Borna Coric 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Croatian Karlovic hit 33 aces but it was not enough to secure what would have been just his second victory over Federer in 12 meetings.
"I'm unbelievably happy," Federer said. "I never thought I would be this successful ever at this tournament. So clearly I'm overjoyed and I hope I can play another good match tomorrow and enjoy the final."
"I think he served his best against me ever," Federer said. "It was very impressive for how long, how big he served. It was close, I didn't expect to break anymore in the third set, so I was very happy to get that and then bring it home."
It was Goffin's 43rd victory in 45 matches since his straight-sets loss to Andy Murray at Wimbledon, and it sent the 23-year-old Belgian into his third ATP final
"It means a lot," Goffin said. "It wasn't my best match today, but emotionally it was a tough one. I'm really happy. I have nothing to lose tomorrow."
The seventh-seeded Goffin wasted three match points before converting his fourth attempt when his Croatian opponent returned a smash long.
Looking ahead to the final against Federer, Goffin added: "It's in his home town so it will be a great atmosphere.
"The crowd may be for him but I have nothing to lose."
Watch live coverage of the Swiss Indoors final from Basel on Sky Sports 4 from 1.30pm (GMT) on Sunday.
