Roger Federer in action, in Stockholm, on Saturday

Stockholm: Roger Federer moved into position for a 64th ATP title, on Saturday, as he defeated long-time rival Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 to reach the final of the Stockholm Open.

The Swiss world No. 2 improved his runaway record against his good friend from Croatia to 13-3 and has won their last 10 meetings. Federer takes a 2-0 record into his Sunday final against German Florian Mayer, who will play his third career final after a fighting 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) defeat of Finn Jarkko Nieminen.

Federer, defeated in last weekend’s Shanghai final by Andy Murray, is aiming for only his third trophy of 2010 after winning the Australian Open and Cincinnati. He has beaten Ljubicic in straight sets in their last five meetings.

“It’s been good all week,” said Federer, who made his only other Stockholm appearance a decade ago. “I started with a win in under an hour and they just got tougher since then.

“I’ve only had three matches so far and there’s not been a lot of tennis played.

“I had to be patient against Ivan in the first set, I missed some shots and some chances. But after I pulled out the first set with the tie-breaker, things went better for me.

“I was feeling better about my game as the match went on. In the second set he was perhaps forcing the issue and making more errors.”

Ljubicic admitted there was little he could do once the Swiss got up a head of steam.

“I played okay, but trying to come back in the second set was tough. He relaxed once he won the first set and just played better, it got a lot tougher for me.”

Federer ended with his tenth ace on a second match point after 77 minutes as he won his 51st match of the season against a dozen losses.

Mayer will be looking to lift the first trophy of his career when he faces Federer.

His beaten opponent Nieminen, a Stockholm finalist in 2001 and 2006, missed in a decisive third-set tie-breaker as Mayer put over a cross-court winner which the 29-year-old Finn could not reach on the first of three match points.

The Finn came to the court with a 4-2 lead in the series and had won 11 of his 13 matches since a first-round US Open loss.

Mayer said afterwards, “I have nothing to lose. I was a little tired today, physically and mentally.