Kukushkin reaches 1st final

St. Petersburg - Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan reached his first career ATP tour final Saturday by defeating Illya Marchenko of Ukraine 6-3, 6-4 at the St. Petersburg Open.

Kukushkin broke twice for a 5-1 lead in the first set. He made a decisive break in the ninth game of the second before serving out the match by converting his second match point.

Both Kukushkin and Marchenko were playing their second career semifinal, having reached the same stage at last year's Kremlin Cup in Moscow as qualifiers.

In Sunday's final, Kukushkin will play the winner of the all-Russian semifinal between top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny and wild card Dmitry Tursunov.