HALLE WESTFALEN, Germany: Defending champion Roger Federer will bid for a seventh Halle title on Sunday after beating Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) in the semi-final of the grasscourt tournament.

Swiss Federer, ranked fourth in the world, will meet 69th-ranked Alejandro Falla in the title match after the Colombian earlier upset Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first semi-final.

Kohlschreiber, the 2011 winner, fell 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to the 30-year-old South American.

Federer, 32, kicked off his grasscourt campaign in Halle as he bids for a boost ahead of his latest assault on Wimbledon where he has been champion on seven occasions.

Halle was the site of his only title in 2013 and is the tournament where he first appeared in 2005 as a 19-year-old.

For Falla, it will be his second career ATP final, after losing to Ivo Karlovic of Croatia last year in Bogota, in only his second appearance at Halle after losing to Federer in the 2010 first round.

Dimitrov, Lopez to clash in Queen’s final

In London, Bulgarian fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov booked a Queen’s Club final clash against Feliciano Lopez with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 win over world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka on Saturday.

Dimitrov is one of the emerging talents in the men’s game and he underlined his growing reputation by overpowering top seed Wawrinka in just 61 minutes at the Wimbledon warm-up in west London.

The world No. 13 can now look forward to his third ATP Tour final this season on Sunday against Spanish 10th seed Lopez, who defeated Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 in the other semifinal.

And if the 23-year-old lifts the trophy, it will go some way to silencing the critics who claim he should have fulfilled his potential by now.

It’s tough to define the word ‘breakthrough’,” Dimitrov said. “Of course, you would want to be more consistent. I think that’s more my word for it.

“Sometimes people make a big deal out of the breakthrough. To me, it’s just a stage that you’ve got to go through.

“Some people find it very easy and acclimate themself pretty fast to the atmosphere and to the stage. Others it just takes time. Everyone is different.”

Dimitrov is already the youngest player in the world’s top 20, having broken into the upper echelons with a run to the Australian Open quarter-finals before winning titles in Acapulco and Bucharest.

One of his few low moments this year came last month when he was dumped out of the French Open first round by Ivo Karlovic.

He had expected to do well in Paris and admitted the loss sparked several days of soul-searching, ultimately giving him the renewed focus and hunger to succeed at Queen’s.

“I was really down after the French Open. I didn’t touch a racquet for around five, six days after that,” Dimitrov said.

“It was painful. I kept dwelling on it. You go for those long walks and keep thinking about what happened.

“But at the same time that pushed me to practice hard and put me in a really good position.

“I was really positive coming into this week. Next thing you know, I’m in the final. So that’s a good sign.”

Playing with more freedom, Dimitrov has raced through the draw, adding an admiring Wawrinka to a list of scalps that already includes Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych this year.

“His game is similar to Roger (Federer). He has a one-handed backhand, a big forehand and can serve well,” Wawrinka said of a player once dubbed ‘Baby Fed’.

“He’s been having a great year already, winning two titles. I’m sure he can achieve big things in tennis.”

Dimitrov was just too hot to handle as he moved a step closer to his first grass-court title.

The Bulgarian, who has been supported by girlfriend and French Open champion Maria Sharapova this week, took just five games to became the first player in the tournament to break Wawrinka’s serve and added another break for good measure to clinch the first set.