Tennis: Federer, Hewitt in final

World No 2 Roger Federer closed in on his sixth Halle Open title with a tough 7-6, 6-4 win over local favourite Philipp Petzschner in the semi-finals in Germany yesterday.

Federer, who knocked off the number one spot by Rafael Nadal last week, will meet Lleyton Hewitt in the final after the Australian disposed of another German, Benjamin Becker, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.