Ljubicic, unseeded Youzhny to go for title in Rotterdam

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands -- Third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic advanced to the final of the ABN Amro tournament on Saturday with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) win over top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.

Ljubicic's opponent in Sunday's final will be Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, who saved three match points to beat fifth-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5.

Ljubicic, who lost the finals here in 2005, won with a powerful service game, firing 24 aces to defeat Davydenko in two hours, 49 minutes.

After losing the first set, Youzhny successfully defended match point at 6-5 down to claim the second in a tiebreaker.

In the deciding set, Djokovic conceded two double faults, allowing Youzhny to fight off two more match points at 5-4.

After 2 hours 45 minutes, Youzhny hit a powerful backhand in the final set to reach his fifth ATP final.