Davydenko, Monaco to meet in Austria final

PORTSCHACH, Austria, May 23 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko recorded a semifinal win Friday to advance to the finals of the Hypo Group International tournament for third time in four years.

Davydenko, ranked No. 4 in the world, easily took out Igor Kunitsyn in semifinal play in his attempt to reclaim the title he won in 2005 and 2006.

His opponent will be second-seeded Juan Monaco, who is the Hypo Group International's defending champion. Monaco survived a tough 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4) outing against third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic in his semifinal.

Monaco not only won the title last year, he knocked Davydenko out in the tournament's quarterfinals. Davydenko won the only other meeting between the two. Both of those matches, like Saturday's Hypo Group International title match, were on clay courts.

Davydenko will be looking for his 13th career ATP championship on Saturday while Monaco has three titles to his credit.