Mathieu, Seppi advance to Swiss Open final

Gstaad, Switzerland (Sports Network) - Fifth-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu and Italian Andreas Seppi advanced to the final of the Swiss Open Gstaad by recording semifinal wins on Saturday.
Mathieu, the only seeded player remaining, downed Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek, 6-3, 6-4, while Seppi stopped Russian Igor Andreev, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) on the red clay of Roy Emerson Arena.
Seppi downed Andreev, a former finalist at this event, for the first time in five meetings. Sunday will mark his first final appearance, becoming the first Italian to advance to the title match at this tournament since Adriano Panatta in 1976.
Andreev celebrated his 24th birthday on Saturday.
Mathieu, meanwhile, needed just 73 minutes to cruise to his fifth title match. He own three titles, last winning the Casablanca crown in April.
Mathieu, the 28th ranked player in the world, has won the only two meetings lifetime against Seppi, who is ranked 111th in the world.