It will be an all-Spanish final when David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez collide on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur. Ferrer is looking for his fourth title of the season and first since February. Lopez has not yet triumphed in 2015.
David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez will be facing each other for the 15th time in their careers when they battle for the Malaysian Open title on Sunday.
The head-to-head series stands at 8-6 in favor of Ferrer, who has won five in a row at his countryman’s expense. Lopez last prevailed at the 2009 Shanghai Masters before Ferrer got the job done twice in 2011 and once in each of the next three seasons. The two veterans most recently squared off on the hard courts of Acapulco in 2014, when Ferrer scored a 7-6(1), 6-2 victory. Despite the recent lopsidedness, Lopez still owns a 4-3 advantage over his opponent on this surface.
Ferrer’s Kuala Lumpur campaign got off a routine start with straight-set wins over Radek Stepanek and Mikhail Kukushkin following a first-round bye. Things got trickier on semifinal Saturday with Benjamin Becker on the other side of the net, as the top seed fought back from an early deficit to advance 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Ferrer is 42-10 on the season and in line for the eighth and final place in London.
Lopez also dropped just a single set on his way to the championship match. The 34-year-old beat Mischa Zverev 6-3, 7-6(4), Vasek Pospisil 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-2, and Nick Kyrgios 7-6(2), 7-6(5). Thus continues a stellar run for Lopez, who also reached quarterfinals at the Cincinnati Masters and U.S. Open.
A slight edge may go to Ferrer, who has three titles to his credit this season (24 in total) whereas Lopez is the owner of just four in his entire career. The No. 2 seed has been serving decently this week (50 percent in his opener, 65 percent against Pospisil, 62 percent on Saturday), but will have to put an even greater percentage of first deliveries in play against an adversary like Ferrer.
Pick: Ferrer in 3
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As far as I am concerned, Feli Lopez has more skills on hard court than Ferru.
However, this match seems to be, indeed, a three sets duel and, in these conditions, David Ferrer could have more stamina.
Anyway, a strange but interesting match here, between two native clay players.
Enjoy it. 🙂
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winner: D. Ferrer (ESP)
Ferrer won 7-5 7-5. Lopez was exposed for his lack of return game he only had 2 break points on the Ferrer serve, whereas Ferrer had 11 break points and broke 3 times.
I think that this will be a great match….Lopez playing as well as he ever has, and ferrer always one of the toughest “fighters” in the game…can’t wait!!