Eighth seeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero reached his first ever Masters Series final today, as he dismissed thechallenge of Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti 6-3 6-3 at the Foro Italico.
Ferrero, the 21-year-old who has risen to number four in the ATP Champions Race, has not lost a set at this week's $2.95 million Rome MastersSeries event as he bids for his fourth title of the year.
He was too strong for Lapentti in their semifinal, breaking the former world number eight twice in each set.
Victory was confirmed when Lapentti double-faulted on match point.
Ferrero plays either Brazilian top seed and world number one Gustavo Kuerten or Sweden's unseeded Andreas Vinciguerra in the final on Sunday.
Kuerten beat Ferrero in five sets in the semifinals of last year's French Open.
Ferrero is one of the favourites to secure this year's French crown when the second Grand Slam of the season begins at Roland Garros on May 28th.
-Reuters