BCR OPEN ROMANIA

Moya Tops Gasquet To Reach Final; Faces Simon

Sixth seed Carlos Moya (pictured) advanced to his 28th ATP clay court final on Saturday with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over top seed Richard Gasquet in the semifinals of the BCR Open Romania in Bucharest.
The Spaniard converted three of eight break points and saved both break points he faced throughout the 1 hr., 18 min., encounter to record his third victory over Gasquet and reach his second final in Bucharest. The 32-year-old Moya was a runner-up on his event debut in 1996 (l. to Berasategui) and made a quarterfinal exit on his third and most recent event appearance 10 years later. He now improves to an 11-3 record in Bucharest.
The former World No. 1 and 1998 Roland Garros champion has won at least one ATP title in each of the past eight seasons but is yet to secure a title this year, having finished as runner-up at Costa do Sauipe (l. to Almagro) and fallen at the semifinal stage in Chennai and the quarterfinals at a further three events. Currently ranked No. 61, he will look to capture his 17th ATP clay court title and his 21st title overall when he faces defending champion Gilles Simon in Sunday’s final.
The 22-year-old Gasquet was looking to reach his second final of 2008 and was chasing his first ATP title after finishing runner-up at Stuttgart (l. to del Potro). The World No. 12, who drops to a 26-18 season match record, won consecutive matches at only two tournaments through the first five months before finding his form at Queen's Club where he reached the quarterfinals (l. to Nalbandian). He has since advanced to the Wimbledon fourth round (l. to Murray), the final in Stuttgart and the quarterfinals at Masters Series Toronto (l. to Nadal).
Simon secured his place in the final after battling past 2004 champion Jose Acasuso 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4. The Frenchman fired six aces and won just eight points more than Acasuso as he recovered from a one set deficit to improve to a 4-0 record against the Argentine No. 8 seed after 2 hr., 54 min.
The 23-year-old Simon, who defeated Acasuso twice this summer at Masters Series Toronto and the US Open, is enjoying his best season to date. The Nice native has titled twice at Casablanca (d. Benneteau) on clay and on hard court at Indianapolis (d. Tursunov). He reached his first ATP Masters Series semifinal at Toronto (d. No. 1 Federer in 2nd RD, l. to Kiefer) and shortly after reached a career-high No. 13 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.
Currently ranked No. 17, Simon is bidding for his fifth ATP title and will appear in his sixth final. He captured the Bucharest title last year with victory over home favorite Victor Hanescu. He now improves to a 10-1 event record.
World No. 51 Acasuso triumphed in Bucharest in 2004, defeating Igor Andreev for the loss of just three games. In 2008, the 25-year-old has achieved his best results during the Latin American swing, when he reached the Buenos Aires final (l. to Nalbandian), Acapulco semifinals (l. to Almagro) and Vina del Mar quarterfinals (l. to Cuevas). He slips to 25-22 for the season.