Youzhny To Face Golubev For Title

© Getty ImagesMikhail Youzhny will contest his fourth ATP World Tour final of the season.

World No. 9 Mikhail Youzhny came from behind for the second day in a row Saturday as he won 12 of the last 14 games to defeat fellow Russian Igor Andreev 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 and reach the final of the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2010. A day earlier at the ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tennis tournament, Youzhny had recovered from a set and a double break down to beat Marcos Baghdatis.

“It was a tough match, despite what the score might be in the second and third sets,” said Youzhny. “He played really well in the first set, but he looks like he might not be in the best shape because he’s just started playing again after a long injury. So perhaps that’s why, in the second and third set, he played not so well as in the first.”

The 28-year-old Youzhny is through to his fourth ATP World Tour final of the year at an important stage in the season. With six weeks of the regular ATP World Tour season remaining, there are six berths still to be claimed at the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Youzhny, a semi-finalist at the US Open last month, is currently 10th in the year-to-date South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings and is hoping to qualify for the first time.

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The fourth-seeded Youzhny has a 1-2 record in ATP World Tour finals this season, and a 6-9 mark in his career. The Muscovite won his sixth ATP World Tour title on clay in Munich (d. Cilic) in May and finished runner-up in two finals in February, losing out to Robin Soderling in Rotterdam and Novak Djokovic in Dubai.

In the final Youzhny will face on-the-rise Kazakhstani, Andrey Golubev, who backed up his victory over World No. 5 Robin Soderling by ousting Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer 7-5, 7-6(4) to reach his second ATP World Tour final of the season.

The 23-year-old Golubev has been one of the most improved players on the ATP World Tour this year, winning his maiden title in Hamburg in July (d. Melzer) to help him rise to World No. 41 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings after starting the season No. 133.

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The Kazakhstani credited his strong form this week to his country’s recent promotion to the Davis Cup World Group after beating Swizterland 5-0. “The Davis Cup gave me a lot of energy and satisfaction so that’s why here I’m with a really good feeling and in really good form.”

Golubev is through to the final without dropping a set after avenging the defeat he suffered in Monte-Carlo to Ferrer. The eighth seed clinched a close first set by breaking serve in the 11th game and broke serve at the same stage in the second set. He was unable to serve out victory as Ferrer hit back to force a tie-break, but from 4-4 he won three successive points to claim victory in one hour and 46 minutes.

“It was really tough because he’s a very good defender, really solid from the baseline, so I had to win the point twice," said Golubev. "It will be a different match [against Youzhny] because he can play slice and change the game."

The 28-year-old Ferrer was looking to add valuable points to his campaign to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The Spaniard, who reached the final of the year-end championships in Shanghai (l. to Federer) in 2007, is currently ninth in the year-to-date South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings.