Wawrinka stuns Berdych to play Chennai final

The 21st-ranked Swiss, seeded third, attacked from the start to take out world number six Berdych 6-4, 6-1 in 76 minutes at the Nungambakkam Tennis stadium.

Wawrinka, who lost to Marin Cilic in last year's final, will meet seventh-seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium in Sunday's title clash worth $68,850 and 250 points for the winner.

Malisse, a Chennai winner in 2007, recovered after losing the first set to knock out the sixth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 97 minutes.

Wawrinka, who finished his rain-hit quarter-final against Robin Haase late on Friday night, showed no signs of fatigue as he outplayed his Czech rival before some 2,500 Indian fans.

Wawrinka broke Berdych in the fifth game to wrap up the first set in 38 minutes and then breezed through the second, losing just one game.

"I was a bit tired last night, but had enough time to rest since my match today was late in the evening," said Wawrinka, who now shares a 4-4 record with Berdych.

"I was feeling good and fresh when I went on court and I am very happy I was able to beat a player like Berdych in straight sets.

"This was one of my best matches and the good thing is I am playing better each time I have gone on court in the past few days.

"Malisse is a good player and he is also playing very good tennis. It will be a very interesting final. I just hope I can win this time."

Malisse, who has lost just 10 games in three previous matches, made a shaky start as he allowed Tipsarevic to run away with the first set in 28 minutes.

An aggressive Malisse secured a break in the second game of the second set, but Tipsarevic hit back immediately by breaking the Belgian in the next game.

The Serbian clawed back from 15-40 in the sixth game to hold serve, but Malisse had his way in Tipsarevic's next service game to take a 5-3 lead and go on to win the set.

The 60th-ranked Malisse broke number 49 Tipsarevic twice in the decider to march into the final.

"I thought I had no solution in the first set because he was serving two aces a game and returning well," the 30-year-old Belgian said.

"When you go down in the first set, you have nothing to lose and I just started playing shots and taking risks.

"Janko started making more mistakes as I played aggressive tennis. I don't know how the turnaround happened, but it did and here I am in the final."

Malisse said he was excited about Sunday's title match.

"That's what we play for every week... to get into the final," he said. "It is nice to play on a court where I have won before, but no final is ever easy.

"It will be a tough match, but I will rest tonight and see how things go tomorrow."