"I had a tight match in the first round and from there I took it one match at a time," he added, looking back to his win over Jan-Lennard Struff in which he saved a match point.

Pouille suffered from the power of Lopez's serve early on but gradually got the measure of the 35-year-old, who faded towards the end of the third set.

It was his third final of the season after a defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Marseille and a victory over Aljaz Bedene in Budapest.