VINA DEL MAR, Chile, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Top seed Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador got past hometown favorite Nicolas Massu, 6-3, 6-4, Saturday to advance to the final of the BellSouth Open.
Lapentti will face an unexpected local opponent in Sunday's final. Chilean wild-card entrant Fernando Gonzalez defeated French qualifier Nicolas Coutelot, 6-3, 6-3, in the other semifinal.
The 25-year-old Lapentti had rallied to victory in his three previous matches. He fought back for a victory over Flavio Saretta of Brazil on Friday, advancing to the semifinals of the claycourt event.
Lapentti also lost the first set in his opening match against Jacobo Diaz and did so again Thursday against Ramon Delgado of Paraguay.
The Guayaquil native reached his first final of 2002. After crashing out in the opening round at Sydney, Lapentti made the last 16 of the Australian Open, where he lost to Chilean No. 1 Marcelo Rios.
Massu, the Chilean No. 2, has won more than 20 matches on the ATP Tour in each of the previous two seasons. However, the Vina del Mar resident has yet to capture a tour title.
Lapentti will be gunning for his fifth career ATP title. In July, he overcame Spain's Albert Costa to win the Generali Open at Kitzbuhel, Austria.
Gonzalez, 21, is aiming to collect his second ATP crown, having won the 2000 U.S. Men's Claycourt Championships in Orlando, Fla., where he beat Massu in the final.
Coutelot, 25, still has not won an ATP title. He stunned former world No. 1 Rios on his way to the third round of last year's French Open.
