Tennis
Youzhny v Lacko in Zagreb
2012-02-05 12:36
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Zagreb - Third-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia reached the finals of the Zagreb Indoors tournament on Saturday after defeating Germany's Michael Berrer 6-3, 6-4.
Youzhny - who will play his first final since St Petersburg in 2010 - will face Lukas Lacko on Sunday after the Slovak ousted sixth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).
"I am very pleased to be able to play for the title," Youzhny said. "Wherever you are you try to play your best game."
The Russian played well at crucial times against Berrer, who was a finalist here in 2011 and 2010. After winning the first set, Youzhny broke early in the second, but Berrer broke back.
Youzhny then broke again at 4-4 and went on to complete his victory.
Lacko will play his first ATP final after ousting three seeded players en route to the final. Lacko reached the third round at the Australian Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal.
He pressed hard against Baghdatis and managed a break at 6-5 in the first set, which he then easily closed.
Baghdatis responded aggressively in the second set and was two points away from a 5-1 lead, but Lacko recovered and won the tie-breaker.