Thomas Berdych has advanced to the final of the Madrid Open after a 7-6 7-6 victory over Argentine Juan Martin del Potro.
World number 11 Del Potro began the semi-final the brighter of the two players and made the most of his dominance by breaking Berdych's serve to take a 2-1 lead.
It looked as though the 23-year-old would go on to claim the opening set as he held his next three service games.
However, just as Del Potro was preparing to serve for the set, Berdych broke to level up the scores at five games apiece, before both players held their service games to force a tie-break.
The lead changed hands on numerous occasions in the breaker until the Czech Republic's Berdych broke Del Potro to win 7-5.
Berdych began the second set brightly when he broke Del Potro's serve at the first time of asking.
The Argentinian responded with a break of his own as the match headed into another breaker. Berdych emerged victorious again 8-6 to seal his place in tomorrow's final against either Roger Federer or Janko Tipsarevic.
Matt Law
