Youzhny beats Soderling to reach Dubai final

DUBAI, Mar 2 (Reuters) Mikhail Youzhny defeated Sweden's Robin Soderling 7-5 6-2 at the Dubai Open today to reach his second successive final.

The unseeded Russian, winner in Rotterdam on Sunday, will play top seed Roger Federer or fifth seed Tommy Haas in tomorrow's final.

Federer has won the title in three of the last four years, while Haas is attempting to add the Dubai title to the one he claimed in Memphis last week.

Both players lacked flair in the early stages, with Soderling saving a break point at 1-1 with an ace but then failing to win two break points of his own when leading 4-3.

The unseeded Swede held off another break point at 4-4, but Youzhny, who put out Rafael Nadal in the previous round, finally earned the breakthrough when Soderling made a backhand error to lead 6-5.

After serving out the first set to love, Youzhny broke again to lead 1-0 in the second, and Soderling was unable to rise to the challenge.

Youzhny, cheered on by a sizeable crowd of Russian supporters, showed more variety and commitment and earned a further break for 5-2.

''Of course I was tired after playing Rafa (Nadal), but there were a lot of Russians here and they gave me power,'' Youzhny told reporters. ''I slept maybe a little bit at the beginning of the match, but after I woke up.

''After I broke him he started missing more. In the second set I didn't start to play much better, but in the first game of the second set he made three or four mistakes. I didn't do any unbelievable winners or anything.'' Soderling, who has now lost in three semi-finals this year, admitted that he had lost to a better player on the day.

''He played much better than me,'' said Soderling. ''He didn't miss much, and from the end of the first set and in the second he was a lot better. I had some chances at 4-3 in the first set, but after that it was not really close.'' REUTERS PDS KP1912