Djokovic labours past Rochus into Halle final

By Karolos Grohmann

HALLE, Germany (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic had to work hard against Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus to reach the Halle tournament final with a 7-6 6-4 win on Saturday.

The Serbian world number four will play Germany's Tommy Haas who earlier beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets.

Djokovic, who has struggled to find his feet on grass all week, squandered a 4-1 lead and then missed three set points at 5-4 before Rochus carved out two for himself in the tiebreak.

Second seed Djokovic, who littered the court with 21 unforced errors in the first set alone, kept his composure to clinch it on his fourth set point when the 136th-ranked Rochus sent a backhand sailing wide.

Rochus, who had been troubled by a shoulder injury for the past two years and underwent surgery late last year, was broken at 2-2 in the second when Djokovic's baseline play started to come together.

The Belgian refused to give up, though, earning a break point at 4-3 before the 22-year-old Serb's thundering serve carried him to a 5-3 lead.

Djokovic served out the match two games later on his third match point.

"I had to work hard for all my points especially on his serve...because you can see Olivier likes to play on fast surfaces," said Djokovic, who will play in only his second grass court final after reaching the final in Queen's last year.