World number one and defending champion Roger Federer strolled through to the final of the Halle Open on Saturday, defeating third seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 in less than an hour.

Federer will face sixth-seeded American Mardy Fish in Sunday's final. Fish squeezed past local favourite Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 in his semi-final at the pre-Wimbledon grasscourt event earlier on Saturday.

Federer, the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, broke burly Novak twice in the match, cracking winners and executing delicate volleys seemingly at will.

The Swiss has beaten big-serving Fish, ranked 23 in the world and the U.S. number three after Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi, in all three of their previous matches, though Fish took a set off Federer at Wimbledon last year.

The American closed out a third set tiebreak in his semi-final after Schuettler double-faulted at 4-4.

"He was my toughest opponent of the week and I had to play my best tennis to beat him," Fish said.

"I grew a bit tired toward the end but I'm very pleased with my performance," he said, adding that he had some hip problems during the match.