Rotterdam, The Netherlands (SportsNetwork.com) - Third-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych secured a spot in Sunday's final at the $1.85 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
Berdych fired seven aces and converted all three of his break-point chances as he topped Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-2 in Saturday's first semifinal on the indoor hardcourts at Ahoy Rotterdam.
The world No. 7 Berdych is bidding to end a title drought that dates to his triumph in Stockholm at the end of 2012. He was the only player in the top 10 not to win a title last season, going 0-3 in finals to drop his career record to 8-11.
Gulbis had taken down top seed and defending champion Juan Martin del Potro in the previous round.
Berdych's opponent in Sunday's championship match will be red-hot Croat Marin Cilic, who registered his ninth straight win by upending wild card and Dutch crowd favorite Igor Sijsling 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Cilic, who captured the PBZ Zagreb Indoors tournament in his home country last week, will be vying for his 11th career title on the ATP circuit. He has defeated Berdych only twice in six all-time meetings, however.