Benneteau to take on Monaco

Kuala Lumpur - Julien Benneteau of France upset top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the Malaysian Open.

Benneteau will face second-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina, who outlasted Kei Nishikori of Japan, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4) in Saturday's other semi-final at Kuala Lumpur's Putra Stadium.

The fifth-ranked Ferrer looked visibly tired and made multiple unforced errors in the 97-minute match against Benneteau, who is ranked 29 spots lower.

The 11th-ranked Monaco, who is looking for his fourth title of the year, described his match against Nishikori as "very difficult".

"I just fought for every ball to try and stay in the match. Once I got some rhythm, I started to play better," he said.

Nishikori led 5-2 in the third set before Monaco fought back to win in a match that lasted two hours, 42 minutes.

Results from the ATP Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday (x denotes seeding):

Semi-finals

Juan Monaco (ARG x2) bt Kei Nishikori (JPN x3) 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4)
Julien Benneteau (FRA x7) bt David Ferrer (ESP x1) 6-4, 6-1