ROTTERDAM (AFP) - French lefthander Michael Llodra, whose had less then a week off all year, has vowed to dig into his dwindling energy reserves on Sunday as he bids for his second title of the season against Robin Soderling at the Rotterdam Open.

"I've only had four days off this season," said the winner of January's Adelaide event which was followed by a run to the Australian Open doubles final.

"I'm tired and my back's a bit tight, but it won't affect me in the final."

Llodra beat Ivo Karlovic 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) on Saturday to move into the title match even though the Croatian aced him 16 times.

Countryman Gilles Simon failed to make it an all-French affair as he lost to Sweden's Soderling 6-2, 6-1 in a mere 50 minutes at the Ahoy stadium in the other last four match.

The Swede is looking for his third career title, the last he lifted was in 2006 in Milan.

Soderling, one spot below Llodra at 59 in the world, is playing in only his second tournament in six months after suffering a wrist injury last season.

Karlovic and Llodra each lost serve only once in their tight encounter which lasted just under 90 minutes.

"These are not the most exciting matches to watch," admitted Llodra.

"Karlovic's service is simply awesome and very hard to break. You always know it will be a difficult match against Ivo and his serve. It turns on one or two points.

This indoor event was stripped of seeds by the second round, the first time that had happened in two years on the ATP.

But Llodra, who gave himself few chances in a field including Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Lleyton Hewitt, was pleased with his week's work.

"When I saw the draw, I thought I'd be lucky to win two matches. Now I'm into the final," he said.

Frenchmen have enjoyed success here in the past with Cedric Pioline winning in 2000 before Nicolas Escude took back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002.

Llodra has progressed into the final without the loss of a set, with a second-round win over Nikolay Davydenko the highlight so far of the indoor week.