TOKYO (AFP) -- Britain's former number one Tim Henman secured a berth in a final for the first time in two years and seven months when he defeated Lee Hyung-Taik at the Japan Open tennis tournament here on Saturday.

The 10th-seeded Briton came back from 2-4 down to secure a 6-4 7-6 (7/5) victory over the ninth-seeded South Korean.

In the final on Sunday, Henman will play world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland, who eliminated Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-3 6-4 earlier in the day.

It will be Henman's first final on the tour since Indian Wells in March 2004, where he lost to Federer 6-3, 6-3.

Henman has an even 6-6 record against Federer, but has lost their last five matches, including at this year's Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

"I'm sure he feels pretty confident again being in the final. I haven't been in the final in two-and-a-half years," said 32-year-old Henman.

Federer has made 13 finals out of 14 tournaments this season, winning eight of them including victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Federer also set an Open era record of a 56-match hard court winning streak earlier this year. Henman said he would have preferred to face Becker, but "to play him (Federer) in the final is going to be special."

Henman scored one of the first major breakthroughs of his career in Japan 12 years ago, qualifying for the event for the first time and coming through the first two rounds before falling to Pete Sampras.

His appearance this week was his first in Tokyo since reaching the last eight in 1998.

Henman said the surface of the hard court in Tokyo suits his game very well and gives him an advantage.

"Definitely. I think when I started my professional career a lot more tournaments were played on surfaces of this kind. It really suited my game," said Henman.

"Whereas now the majority are much slower and the balls are much heavier, so it just makes it a little bit more difficult for me to play my style.

"To have the opportunity of playing here has been fantastic. I'm really pleased that I've been able to take advantage," he added.

But Henman admitted it would be difficult to play against Federer.

"I played against many of the great players in the past 10 years and I think it is difficult to compare the generations, but Roger is the toughest opponent, because he has a good all-round game," said Henman.

"As far as I'm concerned, in my career, Roger is the toughest to play against," Henman added.