Hanescu beats Fognini and Chardy tops Kiefer to gain Mercedes Cup final

Chardy, Hanescu gain Mercedes Cup final

STUTTGART, Germany — Jeremy Chardy of France beat Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday to set up a Mercedes Cup final against Victor Hanescu of Romania.

Chardy is looking for his first career ATP Tour title, while Hanescu beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-2 in his bid for a second.

The fourth-seeded Hanescu, the only seeded player left in the field, lost his first set of the tournament before reaching his first final in a year.

His last final was in July 2008 at Gstaad, Switzerland, where he won his only title.

Hanescu beat Chardy in the quarterfinals of the Gstaad tournament, but lost to him in the first round of the Indian Wells Masters this year.

The 43rd-ranked Chardy was runner-up in Johannesburg in February.

He broke the 32-year-old Kiefer’s serve to win the match played in a drizzle.

“He read my game very well,” Kiefer said.

Hanescu, who is ranked No. 33, served for the match in the second set, but was broken and then lost the tiebreaker.

Kiefer and Chardy both played twice Saturday to complete quarterfinals washed out by rain. Kiefer advanced by beating Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot 6-2, 6-1, and Chardy defeated Mischa Zverev of Germany 7-6 (4), 6-1.