Tennis
Almagro v Baker in Nice
2012-05-26 07:55
Nice - Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat Gilles Simon of France 6-1, 6-3 in the Open de Nice on Friday to reach his third final of the season.
Almagro, who had lost his previous two matches against Simon, hit eight aces and saved all four break points he faced.
He won on indoor clay in Sao Paulo in February and bids for his 12th career title against American qualifier Brian Baker, who outlasted Nikolay Davydenko 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-2 in 2 hours, 32 minutes.
Baker will play in his first ATP final. He's on a 15-match winning streak, starting with qualifying for and winning a challenger in the US which earned him a wildcard into his first French Open. Ranked 216, he qualified in Nice and saved a match point in the quarter-finals against Mikhail Kukushkin.
On Friday, he broke Davydenko, a former world No 3, three times in the deciding set.