Baghdatis through to Swisscom final

Basel:

Cypriot qualifier Marcos Baghdatis toppled second-seeded David Nalbandian 6-2 7-6 (3) at the Swiss Indoors to reach his first ATP tournament final, where he will play fourth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Gonzalez reached his fourth final of the season, ousting fifth-seeded Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-0 6-3. Baghdatis broke Nalbandian twice in succession to take a 4-0 first-set lead, and then easily retained his serve to close it out. Nalbandian, ranked 60 spots above Baghdatis, saved three break points at 2-2 in the second set before breaking the Cypriot in the next game. But Baghdatis broke back immediately and Nalbandian then had trouble contending with his opponent's powerful serve. Baghdatis forced the tie-breaker with four consecutive aces at 5-6. In the tie-breaker, the Cypriot took a 4-0 lead. Nalbandian won the next three points but Baghdatis swept the following three, sealing the win with a clever drop shot. The result avenged Nalbandian's 0-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 win in the first round of the French Open. Nalbandian had been hoping for a victory in Basel to boost his chances of securing one of the last three berths for the Masters Cup in Shanghai. After entering the tournament 12th in the race standings with 322 points, his quarterfinal victory takes him to 343. But the 23-year-old Argentine needs to overtake Nikolay Davydenko who has 393 points. (AP)