SHANGHAI (AFP) - Argentina's Guillermo Canas dominated Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic to book his place in the final of the 380,000-dollar ATP Shanghai Open tennis tournament against unheralded German Lars Burgsmuller.
Third seed Canas used an impressive combination of speed and aggression to secure a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the powerful Czech who looked out of sorts from the start of the semifinal matchup.
"I think I played very well, I did everything I needed to do," said Canas, who has been playing some of the hottest tennis of the tour and has reached three ATP finals this year.
"I felt great, although today I was expecting another match, a tough match," he added.
Novak, last year's runner up in Shanghai and who is usually a steady player even when he struggles, committed a litany of double faults and unforced errors to virtually give the first set away.
"I tried to hit hard but I made too many mistakes," said Novak.
Smelling blood, the agile baseliner from Buenos Aires turned up the pace with scorching serves and even rushed the net when the opportunity presented itself.
Novak, the tournament second seed, walked away with his dignity intact in the fifth and seventh games, but it was too little too late as Canas closed out the second set in convincing fashion.
"I know that he didn't play the best tennis that he can," Canas said of his opponent's poor performance.
The 29-year-old Czech summed up his disappointment by saying: "It was a very bad day. I played really bad."
The Argentinean, who has grown stronger with each match and is ranked 24 in the world, is looking for his sixth career ATP title after capturing back-to-back tournaments at Umag and Stuttgart in July.
"I know if I play well I will have a lot of chance to win" the 26-year-old said of Sunday's final against Burgsmuller, who defeated veteran Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark 7-5, 6-3 in a closely fought match.
Burgsmuller, 28, won his only ATP trophy in Copenhagen in 2002, and was finalist this year in Hertogenbosch as well as in Casablanca four years ago.
Canas has won 17 of his last 18 matches, with his only loss coming at the hands of 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick.