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Gulbis, Garcia-Lopez reach final in St. Peterburg

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, shown at this year's U.S. Open, will go against Ernests Gulbis in Sunday's title match at the ATP's St. Petersburg Open. UPI Photo/Monika Graff
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, shown at this year's U.S. Open, will go against Ernests Gulbis in Sunday's title match at the ATP's St. Petersburg Open. UPI Photo/Monika Graff | License Photo

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Ernests Gulbis and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez each posted straight-set wins Saturday that lifted them into the finals of the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.

Gulbis, at No. 6 the only tournament seed to reach the semifinals, took out Michal Przysiezny 6-3, 6-3 and Garcia-Lopez followed with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Joao Sousa.

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Gulbis earned his fourth ATP title appearance. He won each of the other three, including taking the title at Delray Beach, Fla., in March. Garcia-Lopez is 2-2 in finals. He was the runner-up in Romania in April and his most recent title came in Thailand in 2010.

Gulbis and Garcia-Lopez have split two previous meetings.

Gulbis dropped only 13 points in nine games serving against Przysiezny and saved the only break point he saw. He had one break in winning the first set and two more in the second to finish off the win.

Garcia-Lopez also didn't lose his serve Saturday and ended up with five breaks against Sousa.

Gulbis and Garcia-Lopez will play Sunday for a first-place check of $78,000, with the loser settling for $41,100. Przysiezny and Sousa each took home $22,280 by reaching the semifinals.

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