Kenneth Carlsen beat Johan van Herck of Belgium 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 Saturday to become the first Danish finalist ever in the Copenhagen Open.
Carlsen, seeded seventh in the ATP indoor tournament, will meet Cedric Pioline in today's final. Pioline, the third-seed from France, defeated Tim Henman of Britain 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the other semifinal."I'm happy to be the first Danish finalist in Copenhagen, but it's going to be tough tomorrow because Pioline has been playing really well this week," Carlsen said.
The hard-serving Dane will be playing his second ATP singles final. He lost the first in the 1992 Queensland Open in Brisbane, Australia, to another Frenchman, Guillaume Raoux.
Pioline, who had not dropped a set in his first three matches here, is 0-10 lifetime, in ATP finals, including 0-3 this year. In 1993, when he finished the year ranked a career-high 10th, Pioline lost the U.S. Open final in straight sets to Pete Sampras.