Defending champion James Blake edged Robin Soderling 7-5, 7-6 (4) Saturday to reach the Stockholm Open final.

The second-seeded American will play Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in Sunday's final at the Royal Tennis Hall. Nieminen, seeded fifth, beat Swedish wild card Joachim Johansson 7-6 (8), 6-7 (5), 6-3.

Blake put in nearly 80 per cent of his first serves.

``I served great today,'' he said. ``I don't know why I served so good today. Sometimes it feels good from the start. In the first two games, I missed only one. Then I got into a rhythm. Maybe it's because it's indoors _ no sun, no wind.''

Soderling saved five breakpoints in the fifth game of the first set before holding serve. He broke Blake to lead 5-3, but the American broke right back on a double-fault by Soderling.

Blake broke again to lead 6-5 when Soderling's backhand sailed long.

``I had my chance when I broke him for 5-3,'' Soderling said. ``Unfortunately, I didn't put in many of my first serves in the next game. But he played better. He served so well and also returned well.''

Both players held their serve throughout the second set.

Another double-fault by Soderling gave Blake a mini-break in the tiebreaker at 2-2 and he won the next three points.

The sixth-ranked Blake, who won in Bangkok two weeks ago, made his first appearance in the Swedish capital last year and is undefeated in nine matches.

Blake has won four ATP titles this season. Only Roger Federer (nine) and Rafael Nadal (five) have won more.

Johansson failed to convert five set points at 6-1 in the first-set tiebreaker before losing it 10-8 in front of a boisterous sellout crowd that included many Finnish fans.

The Swede, ranked No. 690 after five months out because of right shoulder and elbow injuries, took the second-set tiebreaker 7-5.

It marked his sixth straight tiebreaker of the tournament, and appeared to take its toll. After holding his serve at love in the opening game of the decisive set, Johansson dropped his serve for the first time to trail 3-1 and didn't recover.

The 2001 runner-up in Stockholm, Nieminen won his first ATP title in January in Auckland, New Zealand, and reached a career-best 13th in the rankings in July. He's now ranked No. 19.

Johansson, who upset top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the first round, played his first ATP event since February.