Ancic to meet Johansson in final

World number 12 Ancic was the last seed left in the tournament

Third seed Mario Ancic cruised past Ernest Gulbis 6-2 6-3 to reach the final of the St Petersburg Open.

The Croat will play defending champion Thomas Johansson, who won through to his third St Petersburg final with a 6-3 7-6 defeat of Igor Kunitsyn.

The win over Latvian Gulbis kept alive Ancic's chances of reaching the end-of-season Masters Cup in Shanghai.

He is currently 11th in the ATP Race, 61 points off eighth, with the top eight qualifying for the tournament.

Gulbis, ranked 204th in the world and making his ATP tour debut, was broken twice in the first set and once more in the second set.

"The match was actually much tougher than the score indicates," said Ancic, the only seed left in the draw.

"I had to save six break points against a player who has a big potential."

Ancic said he knew he would face a tough challenge in the final.

"It would be very difficult to beat Thomas because he has already won this tournament twice and feels almost at home here," he said.

"Besides, he is also one of my best friends on the tour and it'll be something special to play him."