Federer enters final in Halle

World number one Roger Federer eased through to the Halle Open final with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Germany's Tommy Haas on Saturday.

Top seed Federer, going for a third successive title at the pre-Wimbledon grass-court tournament, produced a superb display of serve and volley tennis, extending his three-year winning streak on the surface to 28 matches.

"I am very, very satisfied," Federer, who only dropped three points on his serve in the first set and did not give Haas any break points, said in an interview with ZDF television.

"I like the grass surface very much and motivation is very easy for me," he added.

Local favourite Haas, roared on by the crowd in the 12,500-seater Gerry Weber stadium, fought well to take the second set to a tie break, but double faulted at 9-10 to hand victory to Federer.

"It just shows again how calm he stays and it's very motivating as well to see how he does that," Haas told a news conference.

"He served tremendously today, always finding the line when he needed to and didn't give me many chances to break him."

In Sunday's final, Wimbledon champion Federer will play second-seeded Marat Safin of Russia, who beat him on the way to winning the Australian Open this year, or Argentina's Guillermo Canas, the fourth seed.

The 23-year-old Swiss is also going for a third successive title at the two-week All England Club tournament in London starting on June 20.

Federer and Haas had each won two of their four previous matches but this was their first on grass.