Feliciano Lopez will play in his second ATP final of the season after beating 7th seed Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5). Lopez seeks his first title since June 2014 when he took the trophy home in Eastbourne.

Early Nerves Settle For Both Players
The opening set started with the longest game of the match. With Feliciano Lopez serving, the game would see three deuces, a game point for Lopez and a break point for Nick Kyrgios. It was the Aussie who came through as he converted the lone break of the Spaniard for the entire match to take a 1-0 lead. That was short-lived however, as Kyrgios could not develop a rhythm on serve and was broken right back. From there, both players got very comfortable on serve. Over the next ten games, it was all service holds to send the set to a tie break.

Lopez would prove much steadier in the breaker as he reeled off the first four points en route to taking the tie break in runaway fashion, 7-2. Kyrgios clearly did not have his best serve working in the set as he won just 61 percent of his first serve points, while the second seeded Spaniard was on fire winning 83 percent of his first serve points. That proved a big difference with Lopez winning five more points off that first serve compared to Kyrgios.

Second Set Deadlocked To Another Tie Break
After his disappointing play in the first set tie break, the 7th seeded Aussie still seemed a bit rattled to open the second set. Kyrgios was loose on serve and that allowed Lopez a look at a break chance. Kyrgios did well to erase it and hold his nerve for a 1-0 lead. Much like the opening set, the rest of the second played out with very little opportunity for either player to get much off the other's serve. Only twice would Lopez win as many as two points off Kyrgios' service games through to the tie break after the opening game. Kyrgios would take just five points total off Lopez's six service games heading into the tie break.

The breaker again saw Lopez burst out to a quick lead as he scored the mini break off Kyrgios' first serve. Play would dart back and forth as Kyrgios took the break back, but he then gave it back again. Late in the breaker at 5-4, the 7th seed evened the score at 5-5 on the Spaniard's serve and looked hopeful to take the set. The Spaniard squashed that by taking the last two points to secure his spot in Sunday's final. Lopez's serve was nearly untouchable again in the set as he won 22 of 25 first serve points and 28 of 35 points on serve altogether.

The second seed was superb with a variety of volleys to supplement a great serving day. Lopez told reporters after the match that he was pleased with his performance, "I'm proud of the way I played. I needed to be aggressive and was happy that my volleys and serves worked out well."

Sunday's Final
Lopez will battle top seed David Ferrer who made the final with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Benjamin Becker in the semifinals. It will mark the 15th time that the two Spaniards have squared off, with Ferrer leading the head-to-head with eight wins. The last meeting came in Acapulco in 2014 where Ferrer beat Lopez 7-6, 6-2. The top seed has five straight wins over Lopez with the lefty last winning in 2009 at the Shanghai Masters. However, it should be noted that the three times they have met on an indoor hard court, Lopez came out the winner. The last time they met indoors was in 2008 at the Madrid Masters.

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About the author
Chris Spiech
Tennis fan who still is not sure exactly how he became a tennis fan.