Romanian wild card Victor Hanescu advanced to his first career ATP final on Saturday with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over French qualifier Gael Monfils in the BCR Open Romania. The 26-year-old Bucharest native improved his career record to 12-4 in his hometown tournament and he is the first Romanian to reach the final since the event began in 1993.

He will play No. 6 seed Gilles Simon of France for the first time. Simon rallied to defeat unseeded Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-3.

Simon will be appearing in his second ATP final of the year (third of his career) after his title run in Marseille (d. Baghdatis) in February. He also was a finalist in Valencia (l. to Almagro) last year. This will be the 10th final appearance by a Frenchman on the ATP circuit this season (4-5).

The 22-year-old Frenchman is compiling his best season to date with his first ATP title and cracking the Top 40 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings for the first time. He has also done well on clay, winning over half of his matches on the surface (17-10 on clay, 32-23 overall). He also reached the semifinals on clay in Sopot.

After dropping the first set in a tie-break, Simon broke three times in the second set (lost his serve once) and twice in the final set in the seventh and ninth games. He also saved four break points in the last set. For the match, Simon converted seven of 12 break points while Berlocq, who was appearing in his first ATP semifinal, was three of 10 on break point chances.

Hanescu is trying to become the sixth first-time ATP winner this year and the first Romanian to capture an ATP title since Andrei Pavel won ATP Masters Series Montreal in August 2001.

Hanescu, who was sidelined most of last season with an abdominal injury suffered in a first round Davis Cup tie against the U.S. and later a back injury, dropped to No. 643 in the year-end South African Airways ATP Rankings. He came into Bucharest No. 151 and he will climb to around No. 106 by reaching the final and around No. 91 if he wins the title.

In Saturday’s victory, Hanescu converted four of eight break points and never faced a break point on his serve in the 68-minute match. In fact, the Romanian had a 77 percent first serve mark and he won 32 of 39 points in eight service games.

Hanescu has not dropped a set during the week, defeating No. 8 seed Albert Montanes in the second round and No. 3 Potito Starace in the quarterfinals. He enters the final with a 7-7 match record on the season and this is the first time during the year he’s won back-to-back matches in an ATP tournament.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:

Simon (On his semifinal win): “I had got off to a good start and I even had chances to lead 3-0. But all of a sudden it was 2-2 and I got a bit stressed. I had a lot of chances in the first set, but Berlocq ended up winning it. He’s a big fighter who never gives up. I’m very happy that I qualified for the final.”

(On the possibility to win his second ATP title of the season): “The situation is completely different. In Marseille I started as an outsider meanwhile I was seeded here and came with big expectations. I think clay is my best surface, therefore I made the choice to play on clay again after the American hard-court season even if it’s only for one tournament. I’m glad I did it.”

(On playing Hanescu): “His ranking doesn’t really show the quality of his game. He’s a good player and he was ranked much better before. Here he also gets a lot of support from the crowd. Hanescu doesn’t have anything to lose and I will be the favorite. I will have to focus on my game.”

Hanescu: “This is a great moment in my career. Of course I am happy because it is here in Romania, but still it is an ATP tournament and my first final.”

Third-seeded Potito Starace struck a blow to local hopes at the BCR Open Romania on Thursday. The World No. 31 knocked out wild card Andrei Pavel 6-3, 6-3 in 78 minutes for a place in the quarterfinals.

The result means Starace will be the new Italian No. 1 when the new South African Airways ATP Rankings are announced on Monday. The 26-year-old will usurp No. 28 Filippo Volandri, who made a first round exit in Bucharest this week (l. to Monfils).

Starace converted three of 11 break points to notch his 24th ATP-level win of the year, which includes runner-up finishes at Valencia (l. to Almagro) and Kitzbuehel (l. to Monaco). The 33-year-old Pavel drops to 15-10 this season.

Starace will next meet another Romania Victor Hanescu, who beat No. 8 seed Albert Montanes, the 2001 runner-up (l. to El Aynaoui), 6-3, 6-2 in 72 minutes. Hanescu hit five aces and saved all three break points he faced.

Russian qualifier Yuri Schukin advanced to an ATP quarterfinal for the first time in his career when he defeated Italian Simon Bolelli, 6-4, 6-3. The 28-year-old converted on four of his five break point chances while holding Bolelli to one of six to pick up his sixth career ATP-level victory.

Schukin, who came into the tournament ranked No. 164, is one of three qualifiers to reach the Bucharest quarterfinals alongside Frenchman Gael Monfils and American Hugo Armando.

The Russian will face Carlos Berlocq for a spot in the semifinals after the Argentine defeated Spaniard Ivan Navarro Pastor 7-5, 6-3 in just under two hours. Berlocq also defeated Navarro Pastor earlier this year at Vina del Mar.

The 24-year-old Berlocq, currently No. 77 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, improved to an 11-12 season mark and will be appearing in his third clay court quarterfinal of the year.