Third seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic carried his good form to enter the final of the Kingfisher Airlines ATP Mumbai Open at the Cricket Club of India on Saturday.

The 21-year-old beat Stefan Koubek of Austria 7-6, 6-2 in the first semi-final.

Coming straight from his country's Davis Cup tie against the Netherlands, and surprisingly unaffected by the weather in Mumbai, Berdych is yet to lose a set in the tournament.

Koubek's tactics of drop shots and lobs that worked against Mario Ancic in the quarter-finals on Friday, backfired against the athletic Berdych. The Czech was quick on his feet and pulled off some amazing drop and cross court volleys whenever he was drawn into the net.

"I was concentrating on my serve; as long as I get that right the rest falls into place," said Berdych after the match.

The first set saw some grueliing rallies. The Austrian powered from the basline, while Berdych varied his length and angles. Koubek was able to stave off a couple of break-points in the first set to force a tie-breaker.

Berdych was quick off the block, taking a mini-break on Koubek's first serve itself and rushing to a 5-2 lead. With Koubek's backhand not looking as lethal, the Czech powered through to win the tie-break 7-2 and wrap the first set in an hour.

With the momentum and crowd behind him, Berych broke Koubek in the first game of the second set. The Austrian, who had claimed that his superior fitness was the key in his victory over Ancic, seemed to have lost the will to fight after Berdych raised his level a few notches in the second set.

Another break in the seventh game gave Berdych a massive 5-2 lead. He served out the match strongly with a love game.