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5/9/10 1:30 AM | Ricky Dimon
Frederico Gil reaches the Estoril Open final with a three-set victory over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Saturday. Gil will have the crowd behind him when he takes on defending champion Albert Montanes for the title.
Frederico Gil booked a spot in his first-ever ATP final on Saturday, and he did it in front of his own fans.
Gil, Portugal's second-highest ranked player, beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Estoril Open on Saturday afternoon. The crowd favorite needed two hours and 28 minutes as well as a major recovery from a tough second set to book a showdown in the title match with defending champion Albert Montanes.
Already in the midst of one of his best weeks as a professional, Gil came out of the gates with plenty of momentum and dominated Garcia-Lopez in the first set. The world No. 133 won more than 70 percent of both his first and second-serve points throughout the opening frame of play, so two breaks were more than enough for him to take a one-set advantage.
Gil appeared to be on the way to a routine straight-set victory when he served more the match at 5-3 in the second. He even held a match point, but Garcia-Lopez suddenly faught back, broke serve, and promptly held to level things at 5-5. Still reeling from his near miss, Gil dropped serve again at 5-5 before Garcia-Lopez forced a third set one game later.
Despite the disappointment, Gil bounced back immediately in the third. Aside from the hiccup late in the previous set, Gil was the better player from start to finish and it showed in the third. The hometown hero was broken once in the final frame of play, but he broke Garcia-Lopez three times before serving out the proceedings at 5-3 without any trouble.
"I believed right until the end," Gil explained. "Even after losing the second set I was positive despite wasting two match points on my serve."
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