Lopez beats Kyrgios in Malaysian Open semifinals

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Second-seeded Feliciano Lopez fired in 12 aces to edge past Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) in the semifinals of the Malaysian Open on Saturday and set up an all-Spanish final against top seed David Ferrer.

The 34-year-old Lopez won 85 per cent of his first-serve points in an intense battle against his 20-year-old Australian opponent.

''Experience is always a good thing to have but today I think the match could have gone either way,'' Lopez said.

''If you play a tie-break against someone who's such a good server as Nick you know it's going to be tight.''

Ferrer was given an early scare in his semifinal when Benjamin Becker won the first set but the Spaniard bounced back to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

''It's going to be a battle,'' Lopez said about his final against Ferrer. ''We usually go three sets, but considering the level I'm playing at now I still think I'm playing better myself than I was playing in February.''