Horna bounces Gaudio, set to meet Chela in Mexico final

ACAPULCO, Mexico -- Luis Horna of Peru rallied to upset second-seeded Gaston Gaudio of Argentina 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Mexican Open on Friday.

Horna will face Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in the championship Saturday. Chela swept Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-2, 6-2 in the semis.

In women's play, top-seeded Flavia Pennetta and second-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany both won their matches to reach Saturday's final on the clay court of the Fairmont Acapulco Princess.

Gaudio, ranked No. 8 in the world, jumped out to a 5-2 lead and held on to win the first set, but Horna played well the rest of the match.

"I felt the game turn in that first set," Horna said. "By the third, my whole body hurt but that was no excuse to stop fighting."

Chela, who dominated his match from the start, said the final score was misleading.

"The result made it look like it was an easy game but on the court it didn't feel that way," Chela said. "Almagro started off making some errors but by the end of the second set he was playing very good tennis."

Chela has not played in a tournament final since he beat Marat Safin 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-3 for the Estoril Open title in April 2004.

Groenefeld needed just over an hour to beat Emilie Loit of France 6-2, 6-4 and Pennetta beat Maret Ani of Estonia 6-3, 6-1.

"If you want to stay on top on this game you have to be very aggressive and never slow down," Groenefeld said.