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Youzhny shocks Djokovic to reach Rotterdam final

Nikolay Davydenko struggled with his service game © Getty Images

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Top seed Novak Djokovic was dumped out of the ABN AMRO Indoor Tournament by Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(5) 7-6(6), who will face Robin Soderling in the final.

Despite saving two match points with fantastic strokes, Djokovic was only sporadically able to capture the sort of form that took him to 2008's Australian Open.

Youzhny, who knocked out Djokovic on his way to winning the competition in 2007, won half of the points on offer from the world No. 2's uncharacteristically weak second serve.

Soderling won the battle of the second and third seeds by defeating Nikolay Davydenko 7-6(3) 6-4, as the Swede carried on the form that saw him drop just one game in his quarter-final.

Despite losing in the first round of the Australian Open, the world No. 8 completed a routine victory over Davydenko - who had lost just once this season prior to the match - in one hour 43 minutes.

Soderling was in imperious serving form, winning 87% of the points on his first, and giving away just one break. By contrast, Davydenko was erratic, with a first serve accuracy of 47%.

"I'm happy to have beaten one of the best players in the world," said Soderling. "It could have easily been the other way around. Our matches have always been very close, we seem to alternate with the wins."

In the SAP Open, Andy Roddick and Fernando Verdasco will battle for the San Jose crown after the American came from a set down to beat Sam Querrey 2-6 7-6(5) 7-6(4) and book his place in the final.

Roddick, a three-time winner of the tournament, suffered an uncharacteristic start to his semi-final against Querrey, losing all control over his serve as his opponent broke twice to race through the first set. The top seed dug in though and set his focus solely on avoiding any further breaks, knowing he had what it took to clinch two tie-breakers to reach the final.

Roddick's opponent will be Verdasco, who overcame Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-3 2-6 6-4 to reach the final. The Spaniard suffered a wobble in the second set as Istomin broke three times, but Verdasco's class from the baseline proved decisive as he advanced in one hour 43 minutes.

Meanwhile, in the Brasil Open, Juan Carlos Ferrero set up a final meeting with Poland's Lukasz Kubot after disposing of home favourite Ricardo Mello in the last four.

Top seed Ferrero was never troubled as he broke Mello on five occasions to triumph 6-4 6-2, and he will be the more rested player in the final after Kubot needed three sets to beat Igor Andreev 2-6 6-2 6-4.

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