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Youzhny stuns Djokovic

Youzhny stuns Djokovic

02/14/2010 06:17:45 AM

Russia's Mikhail Youzhny caused a major boilover with a shock defeat of top seed Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.

Youzhny, the world No.20, will face Robin Soderling in Sunday's final after producing a superb battling display to shoot down the world No.2 from Serbia with a 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) victory.

Soderling and Youzhny have met just twice before on the ATP tour, with the two men sharing the wins.

Youzhny won their first meeting in Dubai in 2007 but Soderling convincingly saw off the 27-year-old from Moscow in their most recent match in Washington D.C. last year.

Soderling earlier booked his place in the final with a straight-sets victory over world No.6 Nikolay Davydenko.

The Swede, ranked eighth in the world, needed one hour and 43 minutes to see off his Russian opponent 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 at the indoor hard-court event in Rotterdam.

Sunday's final is Soderling's first of 2010 after a miserable start to the year, which has included first-round exits in Chennai and at the Australian Open.

"This is a really tough tournament and it's not easy to reach the final here," said Soderling. "I am playing better with every match so I'm very happy."

"I've had a lot of tough matches with Nikolay in the past few years."

"He's one of best players in the world so it means I am playing great tennis to beat him. My confidence is up and I'm looking forward to the final tomorrow."

Soderling converted two of nine break-point chances on his way to a victory that sees him reach the Rotterdam final for the second time.

His previous appearance in the showpiece match came two years ago, when he lost to France's Michael Llodra in three sets.

Meanwhile top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero will meet Poland's Lukasz Kubot in the final of the Brasil Open after they won their semi-finals.

Former world No.1 Ferrero ended home hopes with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Brazilian Ricardo Mello.

Kubot, meanwhile, upset fourth seed Igor Andreev of Russia 2-6 6-2 6-4 at the clay court tournament in Costa do Sauipe.

Ferrero fired five aces and did not suffer a double fault as he made 77 percent of first serves in his victory, which saw him break wildcard Mello's serve on five occasions.

Kubot defeated Andreev in one hour 53 minutes, despite being second best in the opening set.

The Pole bounced back to triumph and will bid for a second ATP title against Spain's Ferrero.

In San Jose top seed Andy Roddick fought back from a set down to win his SAP Open semi-final and set up a meeting with second seed Fernando Verdasco in the final

Former world No.1 Roddick, chasing a fourth title at the tournament after wins in 2004, 2005 and 2008, claimed a 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4) win over fellow American Sam Querrey in one hour 59 minutes.

Verdasco earlier beat Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-3 2-6 6-4 to reach the final.

But it was Roddick who had the greater scare in the last four.

Seventh seed Querrey won the opening set at a canter, breaking the fearsome Roddick serve twice.

But Roddick bounced back, improving the accuracy of his first serve and taking the remaining two sets in tie-breaks.

Spain's Verdasco awaits after seeing off the challenge of Istomin in one hour 43 minutes.

Verdasco was in charge after the opening set, but Istomin fought back with three breaks in the second set before the momentum again turned in the Spaniard's favour.

 
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images
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