Top seed Nikolay Davydenko and No. 5 Juan Carlos Ferrero both attempt to win their second title of the year in Sunday’s ATP Studena Croatia Open singles final.  Davydenko, who bounced back into the Top 10 at No. 9 after last week’s title in Hamburg (d. Mathieu), has been superb since the start of Roland Garros in May – compiling a sizzling 17-3 record since then. The Russian has not dropped a set all week, and other than a first-set tie-break in the quarter-finals, has not lost any more than three games in any particular set.  His challenger in the final, the former World No. 1 and 2003 Roland Garros champion Ferrero, fought off five out of six break points in a tough 61 67 75 win over Italian Andreas Seppi. The Spaniard, who had dropped out of the Top 100 earlier this year, has climbed back to No. 36, sparked his first ATP World Tour title in almost six years in Casablanca (d. Serra) and a strong grass-court campaign where he reached the semi-finals at Queen’s and quarter-finals at Wimbledon. The two veteran ATP World Tour pros have combined to win 27 titles (15 by Davydenko and 12 by Ferrero) and 50 finals. In doubles, top seeds Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak meet No. 2 seeds Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Roger.

WHAT’S AT STAKE –
      Singles Winner:    € 71,700 and 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points
      Runner-up:           € 37,700 and 150 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points

FINALS HISTORY –
            Davydenko: Appearing in his 21th ATP World Tour final……..He is 15-5 in finals
            Ferrero:      Appearing in his  29th  ATP World Tour final…..…He is 12-16 in finals

FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS

(1) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) vs (5) Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)         Tied 2-2
03 ATP Masters Series Cincinnati (USA) Hard R64 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-0 6-2
05 Barcelona (Spain) Clay SF Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6(1)6-1
05 ATP Masters Series Hamburg  Clay R16 Nikolay Davydenko 3-6 6-2  6-1
09 Estoril (Portugal) Clay R16 Nikolay Davydenko 7-5 6-2

Davydenko FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
W: Hamburg (d Mathieu); SF: Barcelona (l Nadal); Estoril (l Blake); QF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Murray); Roland Garros (l Soderling); Stuttgart (l Fognini)
YTD W-L: 29-8
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 15
Date of Birth: June 2, 1981
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 9

• Davydenko, 28, advanced to the final in his easiest match of the week – a 61 61 semi-final win in 50 minutes over Austrian Jurgen Melzer
• The Russian reached back-to-back finals for only the second time in his career, having achieved the feat in 2008 with a title at Miami and a runner-up finish at Estoril (l. Federer)
• He climbed back into the Top 10 at No. 9 after falling to No. 12 – his lowest point since 2005 -- last week in Hamburg after capturing his 15th career ATP World Tour title with a win over France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu…He has also reached semi-finals at Barcelona (l. to Nadal) and Estoril (l. to Blake)
• Since the start of Roland Garros, where he reached the quarter-finals, the Russian has compiled a 17-3 mark and is 29-8 in 2009
• He struggled with a left heel injury early in the year…He suffered the injury in the first week in Chennai where he withdrew from his second round match
• After a two-month absence due to the injury, he returned in mid-April to reach the quarter-finals at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, defeating No. 12 seed David Nalbandian before losing to No. 4 Murray

Ferrero FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
W: Casablanca (d Serra); SF: London - Queen's Club (l Murray); QF: Costa Do Sauipe (l Bellucci); Buenos Aires (l Nalbandian); Wimbledon (l Murray)
YTD W-L: 26-11
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 12
Date of Birth: February 12, 1980
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 36

• Ferrero, 29, reaches his second final of the year – the first time he’s reached multiple finals on the ATP World Tour since 2005 and the 29st final of his career to go along with 12 titles
• The Spaniard saved five break points in a 2 hour, 38-minute 61 67(1) 75 semi-final win over Andreas Seppi of Italy…In the quarter-finals, he defeated Argentine Maximo Gonzalez 7-5, 6-2
• The run to the final is easily the best result for the Spaniard in three visits to Umag, having previously reached the quarter-finals on his 2005 debut (l. to Coria) and fallen in the first round the following year (l. to Portas).
• In 2009, the right-hander ended a six-year ATP World Tour title drought in April at Casablanca (d. Serra) – his first since Madrid in 2003
• The Spaniard recently completed a sterling grass-court season, compiling an 8-2 mark with a semi-final appearance at Queen’s and quarter-finals run at Wimbledon – losing to No. 3 Andy Murray in both tournaments       
• He reached back-to-back finals at Roland Garros in 2002 and 2003, in which he won his only career Grand Slam tournament (d. Verkek)
• He advanced to the final at US Open with wins over Hewitt and Agassi (l. Roddick) to vault him to a career-high ranking of No. 1 on Sept. 8, 2003

DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP

(1) Frantisek Cermak (CZE)-Michal Mertinak (SVK) vs. (2) Johan Brunstrom (SWE)-Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO)

• Cermak, 32, and Mertinak, 29, reached their fourth ATP World Tour final of the year with a 63 36 108 victory over Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas and Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez
• The duo has  already won titles together in Acapulco and Stuttgart with a runner-up finish as a team at Vina Del Mar
• Two of Cermak’s 20 titles have come with his 2009 doubles partner while Mertinak has won six other titles during his career with other doubles partners

• Sweden’s Brunstrom, 29, and Rojer, 27, of Antiles Netherlands, are seeking their first career ATP World Tour doubles title after securing a spot in the final with a 63 63 win over Spaniards Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Marcel Granollers
• The team is making their fourth career attempt for a title and third in 2009 after finishing runner-up this year at Belgrade and ‘s-Hertogenbos