Lopez Wins Queen's Club Battle Of The Ages Against Felix

Feliciano Lopez arrived at the Fever-Tree Championships with just three ATP Tour main draw wins this season, but the Spanish wild card is now one match away from another grass-court title.

In a battle of experience against youth, he defeated eighth-seeded #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4. The match between 37-year-old Lopez and 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime marked the largest age difference in an ATP Tour semi-final or final since Hong Kong in 1977, when Ken Rosewall (43) defeated Pat Dupre (23) in the semi-finals.

Lopez is through to his first ATP Tour final since prevailing here two years ago (d. Cilic). He also broke ground as the oldest Queen’s Club finalist in the Open Era.

Awaiting him in the final is another veteran in 34-year-old Gilles Simon, who defeated fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in a marathon three-set match earlier in the day. Lopez leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 5-2 and has won all four of their grass-court meetings, including the 2013 Eastbourne final.

Auger-Aliassime drops to 6-2 in his first professional grass-court season. Had he defeated Lopez, the Canadian would have cracked the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings on Monday. He currently sits at a career-high of No. 21.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2Fr5Mq2