World number one and defending champion Roger Federer [ Images ] 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 [ Images ] in Sunday's final. Fish squeezed past local favourite Rainer Schuettler [ Images ] 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 in his semi-final at the pre-Wimbledon grasscourt event earlier on Saturday.

Federer, the reigning Wimbledon [ Images ] and Australian Open [ Images ] 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 [ Images ] and Andre Agassi [ Images ], 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.