THE LATEST TENNIS NEWS – DAVID FERRER AND FELICIANO LOPEZ TO MEET IN ALL-SPANISH FINAL ON SUNDAY IN KUALA LUMPUR, FELICIANO BEAT BAD BOY KYRGIOS IN TWO TIEBREAKERS

Written by: Staff on 3rd October 2015

THE LATEST TENNIS NEWS - DAVID FERRER AND FELICIANO LOPEZ TO MEET IN ALL-SPANISH FINAL ON SUNDAY IN KUALA LUMPUR, FELICIANO BEAT BAD BOY KYRGIOS IN TWO TIEBREAKERS

epa04961164 Feliciano Lopez of Spain returns to Nick Kyrgios of Australia during the semi final match of the ATP Malaysian Open tennis tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 3 October 2015 EPA/AHMAD YUSNI |

David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez set the stage for the fourth all-countrymen final on the ATP World Tour this year, reaching the title match at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur.

Ferrer needed two hours and five minutes to turn aside Germany’s Benjamin Becker 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday’s semi-finals. The World No. 8 found himself in immediate danger after getting broken in both the seventh and ninth games of the first set. He would respond with authority in the second, breaking immediately and eventually drawing level at a set apiece. After surviving a 15/40 deficit in the fourth game of the decider, Ferrer would break in the next game and hold on for the victory. He overcame 11 of 13 break points in total, including all four faced in the third set, and would seal the win with an ace on his first match point.

Ferrer advanced to his 50th tour-level final, where he will seek his 25th title. He is 3-0 in finals in 2015, prevailing on the hard courts of Doha and Acapulco, while emerging victorious on the clay of Rio de Janeiro. The Spaniard joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray as active players to have reached 50 finals. Currently in the eight position in the Emirates ATP Race To London, Ferrer further bolstered his bid to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals as well.

“Today I didn’t serve so well, but the most important thing is I was good in my mind and I’m very focused,” said Ferrer. “Tomorrow my return and my first serve will be very important. Feliciano is playing very good the last couple of months. I need to play with my forehand and make him move.”

It will be the 15th meeting in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head rivalry between the Spaniards, with Ferrer leading 8-6. He has won the previous five encounters going back to 2011. Most recently, the Javea native triumphed on the hard courts of Acapulco last year.

Lopez is through to his second ATP World Tour final of the season after edging out dangerous Australian Nick Kyrgios 7-6(2), 7-6(5) in the Kuala Lumpur semi-finals on Saturday. The second seed sent down 12 aces on his way past the 20 year old from Canberra, winning 85 per cent of his first-serve points in the one-hour, 20-minute affair.

The 34-year-old led the pair 1-0 after a straight sets win on clay in Rome earlier this year and he was pushed much closer on the hard courts in the Malaysian capital. He eyes a fifth ATP World Tour title in his 14th final on Sunday.

“The first (tie-break) I took advantage of. It was clear that I normally would win that one but the second one was very tight,” Lopez said. “After 5/4 with two, three crazy points … I think I have to be proud of the way I played because he was really playing well today … Experience is always a good thing to have but today I think the match could have gone either way because if you play a tie-break against someone who’s such a good server as Nick you know it’s going to be tight.”

The Spaniard continued his hard-court form having reached a maiden US Open quarter-final in August, where he fell to eventual champion Novak Djokovic. In February, he fell short of a fifth career title in an ATP World Tour final in Quito against Victor Estrella Burgos.

“I’m playing better than I was playing in February when I made the final in Quito,” Lopez added. “If I play David, it’s going to be a battle. We usually go three sets. But considering the level I’m playing at now I still think I’m playing better myself than I was playing in February.”

The three other all-countryman finals on the ATP World Tour this year were contested in Marseille (Simon d. Monfils), Houston (Sock d. Querrey) and last week in Metz (Tsonga d. Simon).

Top Seeds Reach Doubles Final

Doubles top seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram eye a second ATP World Tour doubles title as a team after beating Frantisek Cermak and Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday. Champions at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle earlier this year, Klaasen and Ram will face second seeds Treat Huey and Henri Kontinen in the final.

( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/lopez-beats-kyrgios-to-reach-kuala-lumpur-final )

Topics: Atp World Tour, David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Open, Sports, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

October 3, 2015 at 9:59 am

THE LATEST #TENNIS NEWS – DAVID FERRER AND FELICIANO LOPEZ TO MEET IN ALL-SPANISH FINAL ON SUNDAY IN #KualaLumpur… http://t.co/CpBK4UE6IS