HAMBURG, Germany, May 18 (UPI) -- Sixth-seeded Russian Marat Safin, seeking his first title of the year, advanced to the final of the $2.33 million Tennis Masters Series -- Hamburg on Saturday.
Safin, who needed just 56 minutes to ease past top seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia on Friday, posted a straight-sets win over unseeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo. Safin held a 6-2, 4-2 lead when Robredo retired due to a foot injury.
The 22-year-old Safin improved to 22-9 on the year and will pass Sweden's Thomas Johansson for the top spot in the ATP Champions Race. Johansson defeated Safin the Australian Open final in January, but was ousted in the second round here by Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta.
Safin is seeking his 11th career title and first since defeating German Rainer Schuettler in St. Petersburg. He lost the final to Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten here in 2000.
No. 11 Roger Federer of Switzerland, who had lost two of his last three matches on clay courts before this event, will face Safin on Sunday.
Federer, who is seeking his second title this year, recorded a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Max Mirnyi of Belarus.
A winner at Sydney, Federer is seeking his third career title. He improved to 3-0 against Mirnyi, his doubles partner.
The top seed has won the Hamburg title just three times since 1980. Ivan Lendl triumphed in 1987 and 1989 and Stefan Edberg lifted the trophy in 1992.
Kuerten, a two-time Hamburg winner, failed to reach the semifinals here for the fifth time in six years. He lost in three sets to Federer in the quarterfinals.
