Vina del Mar, Chile (SportsNetwork.com) - Top-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy fought past third-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in the semifinals at the Chile Open tennis tournament on Saturday.
Fognini, who also made the semis here in 2011, needed all three sets to move past Almagro, claiming a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5) triumph on the red clay at Club Naval.
The other semifinal featured a pair of unseeded players as Argentina's Leonardo Mayer defeated Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 7-6 (7-2), 6-3. Giraldo lost to Tommy Robredo in the 2011 title match at this event.
Mayer, who is ranked 91st in the world, will play in his first career title match on Sunday. He beat Robredo, the No. 2 seed, in the second round by saving four match points.
Fognini, who led his country to the Davis Cup quarterfinals last weekend, will try to win his third career championship. This will be his sixth career final (2-3). The two titles came last year in back-to-back weeks in Stuttgart and Hamburg.
Mayer and Fognini have faced off only one other time, in Stuttgart last year when Fognini won in two sets.
This is the first event on the ATP's 'Golden Swing' through Latin America.
