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By Erik Gudris | Saturday, February 28, 2015

 
Kei Nishikori

Top seeds Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer both needed three set wins to advance into the Acapulco final.

Photo Credit: Corleve

The top two seeds at the Abierto Mexicano Tecel event in Acapulco, Mexico each needed three set wins in their respective semifinals on Friday. Now Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer will face each other for the coveted ATP 500 event title.

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No. 1 seed Nishikori battled earlier against No. 4 seed Kevin Anderson. Though he split sets with the big serving South African, Nishikori eventually won 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

"I'm playing my game and it's going really well," Nishikori said to ATP.com. "I think my serve was much better in the third set and I was making a lot of returns. It was a tough match but I'm happy to make the final."

As a result of his efforts, Nishikori will climb at least to No. 4 in the world - a new career high ranking. He could climb higher depending on how Rafael Nadal does at the Buenos Aires event.

In the night semifinal, No. 2 seed David Ferrer faced off against the surprise of the tournament in American qualifier Ryan Harrison.

Harrison, who knocked out defending champion Grigor Dimitrov and then Ivo Karlovic, was back into his first ATP semifinal in several years after last season saw him deal with multiple injuries and setbacks that almost caused him to fall out of the top 200.

Early on, Harrison looked poised for another upset. Harrison looked sharp and forced the issue up at net. At 1-all, Ferrer did manage to chase down what looked like a Harrison winner to create a stunning shot of his own.


Yet, Ferrer committed over 19 unforced errors and allowed Harrison to take the first set 6-4.

But that would be the last impression Harrison would make in the match. Ferrer immediately picked up his game and earned two quick early breaks. He soon raced away with the set 6-0 to force a decider.

Ferrer would not let up as his level rose while Harrison's own dipped. Ferrer did not drop a single game as he marched past Harrison 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 to reach the final.

Now into his 49th career final, the former Acapulco champion will seek to win the title again for a fourth time.

"Tomorrow I play against Nishikori," Ferrer said about the matchup that he trails 7-3 lifetime to Japan's No.1. "The last matches against him have not been very good. I hope to be able to turn the situation around. He is playing very well. I need to be very strong physically and mentally. Kei has changed. Physically and mentally he is a very dangerous player. He is a consolidated top 10 player."

 

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