By The Canadian Press
BASEL, Switzerland - Toronto's Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic moved into their first ATP final in nearly three months Saturday with 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) win over Christopher Kas of Germany and Viktor Troicki of Serbia at the Swiss Indoors.
In singles play, Roger Federer will take on Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final as he tries for a fourth straight title in his hometown tournament.
Nestor and Zimonjic will be playing their 10th final of a season in which they won seven events in row starting last February in Rotterdam.
The last final for the duo was in August at the Cincinnati Masters, where they beat American Bob and Mike Bryan.
But a dry spell followed.
Nestor and Zimonjic have finally managed to lift their game heading to the end of a long ATP season after suffering opening defeats at their last three events in Vienna, Shanghai and Beijing following a U.S. Open quarter-final showing.
"It seems to be finals or nothing for us," said Nestor. "We've had some tough draws in the past month, we had match points last week and couldn't convert.
"These teams are all tough. But we seem to have found our form again and we're playing well again. You win a few matches and you gain confidence like always. We're looking forward to winning our first title here."
Nestor, then playing with Mark Knowles, won the Basel event in 2003 and 2006.
Djokovic saved three match points before rallying to beat Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2 in their singles semifinal Saturday. Federer then beat childhood friend and fellow Basel native Marco Chiudinelli 7-6 (7), 6-3 in the other.
"Obviously the home crowd will be behind him," Djokovic said of playing Federer in the St. Jakobshalle - where the 28-year-old Swiss was once a ballboy.
In doubles play, the top seeds rolled through the opening set in 23 minutes but had to work harder in the second as the opposition finally began to improve.
But once Zimonjic served the side into a tiebreaker, momentum again took over, with Nestor's side sweeping to the victory on the first match point.
The top seeds fired seven aces in the 65-minute match, never facing break point and breaking twice.
The victory marked the 50th of the season for Nestor against 14 losses.
In singles action, the third-ranked Djokovic trailed 5-4 in the second set and was 0-40 down before reeling off five straight points to win the game.
"I wouldn't say necessarily it was my good shots that prevented the loss. It was luck only," Djokovic said. "I just tried to get some first serves in and at least get that advantage. On this (hard-court) surface, it's crucial."
He then broke the 14th-ranked Stepanek's serve for the first time before dominating the decider.
Djokovic's ATP Tour-leading 70th win this year carried him into his ninth final, also best on tour. He is 3-5 in title matches in 2009.
Chiudinelli had a set point in a thrilling first-set tiebreaker, but Federer struck a backhand crosscourt winner as his opponent advanced to the net, then took the next two points.
Federer broke serve early in the second set and quickly closed out the win. He has progressed without dropping serve in four matches, though Djokovic will be his first seeded opponent.
Chiudinelli was playing in the first semifinal of his injury-affected career, and earned a place in the main draw of next week's Paris Masters.
Ranked No. 884 a year ago, Chiudinelli will be near the top 50 when the new list is published Monday.
Djokovic had beaten Stepanek easily in the last 16 at the U.S. Open in September.
But the 30-year-old Czech forced him to save two break points in the opening game, and took control of the first-set tiebreaker with a pair of overhead winners.
Djokovic's first serves faltered in the second set, and a double fault gave Stepanek three match points.
Djokovic responded with heavy serves and ground strokes, and needed just one set point on his next service game. He converted it with a forehand winner.
In the decider, Djokovic got service breaks in the first and seventh games before closing out victory.
-
With files from The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2009 Canadian Press