ST. POLTEN, Austria, May 20 (UPI) -- Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and Austrian crowd favorite Jurgen Melzer advanced to the finals Friday of the St. Polten International tennis event.
The top-seeded Davydenko dispatched Argentina's Jose Acasuso 6-4, 6-2, while the fourth-seeded Melzer handled Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-4, 6-3. Rochus was a semifinalist at last week's Hamburg Masters.
Davydenko, 23, is 1-0 lifetime against Melzer, with the victory coming at the Monte-Carlo Masters just last month.
Davydenko is currently 10th in the 2005 ATP race and owns four career singles titles on the circuit. This will mark his first final of the year and the sixth of his career.
Melzer, who turns 24 Sunday, is seeking his first career title in his second career final. He was a runner-up on a grass court in Newport in 2003.
The winner of this week's $507,000 final clay-court French Open tuneup will collect $55,340.
