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Saturday, May. 03, 2008

Gonzalez, Bolelli to face off in BMW final

By Sports Network

Second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez won Saturday to advance to the final of the clay-court BMW Open, but he will not face top-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu on Sunday, as Mathieu was the victim of a marathon upset to Simone Bolelli.

The Italian Bolelli outlasted Mathieu 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), sending the Frenchman home after three hours and five minutes. Bolelli had not dropped a set all week prior to Saturday, and survived two tiebreakers to move on to his first career final.

Even Gonzalez encountered trouble from 295th-ranked Moroccan qualifier Younes El Aynaoui, who took the Chilean player to a third set, before succumbing as Gonzalez won 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The veteran El Aynaoui, the Munich champion back in 2002, appeared in his first ATP semifinal since October 2003. The 36-year-old is the oldest semifinalist in 15 years, as Jimmy Connors reached a final four in San Francisco at the age of 40 back in 1993.

Gonzalez is trying to add to his nine career titles, his last coming earlier this year at Vina del Mar.

The 2008 BMW Open champ will pocket $90,000.