Berdych to face Cilic in Beijing final

BEIJING: Czech Tomas Berdych outpowered top seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to take a 6-4 4-6 6-1 victory on Saturday and reach the final of the China Open.

He will face Marin Cilic, who deployed his powerful serve to ease past fellow Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-4 6-3.

In women's play, German 9th seed Andrea Petkovic overwhelmed Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu 6-2 6-0 to reach the final.

She will play 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-2 6-4.

Tsonga was unable to take control of the on-form Berdych, who is one of his rivals in the chase for a spot at next month's World Tour Finals season wrap-up in London.

The world number 10 took advantage of 15 Tsonga unforced errors, pounding his way into the final with his eighth ace on match point.(AFP)