BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Top seed and local favorite Francisco Cerundolo advanced to the Argentina Open final with a 6-3, 7-5 win over compatriot Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Saturday.

Cerundolo won 83 percent of points on first serve and displayed his powerful forehand with 32 winners, prevailing in an hour and 51 minutes on the outdoor clay of the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.

Seventh seed Etcheverry lacked consistency on his serve and committed 26 unforced errors.

"[I'm] super happy," said Cerundolo, who will meet second-seed Luciano Darderi in Sunday's final after the Italian beat Argentine Sebastian Baez 7-6 (2), 6-1.

"The conditions were really difficult today. It was super windy, which made it tough to play. I think I served really well and that was the key. I didn't let him play with so much confidence in his service games," the Buenos Aires native added.

Cerundolo will be aiming for his first Argentina Open crown, having lost twice before at the last hurdle of the ATP 250 event.

"Just win the last match. That's the only thing I have to do now," Cerundolo said. "My first final here [was] against probably peak [Diego] Schwartzman in his best moment of his career, [ninth] in the world. I wasn't mature enough to play those matches.

"Then last year I played an incredible [Joao] Fonseca. I think we played an amazing final, but he was a little bit better than me. So tomorrow I will try to be a little bit better than the opponent."

Darderi, who is aiming for his fifth career title, won 84 percent of points on his first serve and converted three of four break points to breeze past Baez in an hour and 18 minutes.

"I think the first set was really tough," Darderi said. "He played a really good level. But I stayed focused in the tie-break. I think that was the key. I served really well all the match." ■