The second-seeded Spaniard will chase his sixth title against Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who beat Potito Starace of Italy 7-6 (1), 7-6 (6).
"It's going to make me very happy if I can win here and get the confidence to go to Paris with the title in Nice," Verdasco said.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad hereVerdasco created two break chances in the last game and converted his second match point when a backhand from Mayer went long.
"At 6-5, he didn't serve maybe that well," Verdasco said. "I was able to return a few balls deep and push him to make unforced errors."
In the opening set, Verdasco broke Mayer's serve at 4-4 following an unforced error from the Argentine. Mayer slammed his racket to the ground in frustration but managed to break back in the next game to force a tiebreaker.
Verdasco took a 5-1 lead and won the set when Mayer hit a backhand return long.
Meanwhile, Gasquet stretched his winning streak to nine matches.
A former top-10 player, the Frenchman is looking to get back to his best after his career was hit by a suspension last year for testing positive for cocaine. He sealed the win when Starace netted a return.
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