Moya advances to final in Brazil Open

Top seed Carlos Moya advanced to his first championship match of the season and the 43rd of his career on Saturday as he defeated unseeded Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7/5) in the Brasil Open semi-finals.

The 31-year-old Spaniard, who has now gone three sets in each of his four matches here, picked up just his second win over Lapentti in five meetings.

Former world number one Moya has won 16 of his 20 singles titles – including the 1998 French Open – on clay and will meet compatriot Nicolas Almagro in the final.

The second-seeded Almagro cruised to a 6-1 6-1 victory over Italian Fabio Fognini on Saturday.

The 22-year-old Almagro had five aces and converted five out of seven break points to end Fognini’s first career semi-final appearance in just 54 minutes.

The world number 31, Almagro has claimed two career titles – winning most recently at Valencia last season.