By Nick Georgandis
TennisNow.com

It wasn't a good day to be a higher seed in Chennai.

The Aircel Chennai Open's No. 1 seed, Tomas Berdych, was knocked out of the semifinals in ho-hum fashion by third-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka Saturday, 6-4, 6-1.

Wawrinka moves on to tomorrow's final to face Belgium's Xavier Malisse, the seventh seed, who rallied past sixth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Tipsarevic, the Serbian sensation, looked in total command during his first-set triumph, a perfect 16 for 16 on first-serve points won complete with four aces.

But Malisse equaled the feat in the second set (12-of-12 on first serves), and dominated Tipsarevic's second-serve attempts, winning 9 of 10 return points to tie the match. Gaining steam, Malisse served five aces and hit 13 of 14 first serves to take the match going away and advance to the final.

Ranked 60th in the world going into the tournament, Malisse is in his first final since winning Delray in 2007. He also won Chennai that year, shocking then- No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and whipping Austria's Stefan Koubek for the title.

Tipsarevic, ranked 49th in the world entering the field, is still seeking his first career ATP title.

Berdych had better numbers in the first set against Wawrinka, but he couldn't convert them into a victory. The second set was clearly Wawrinka's, as he scored more aces, committed less double faults, won 9 of 11 first serves and 8 of 17 first return points.

Ranked 21st in the world to start 2011, Wawrinka is making his second straight finals appearance at Chennai after losing to Marin Cilic there a year ago. Berdych enters the match ranked sixth despite having not won a title since Munich in 2009.