Ferrer, Murray to meet for Miami title

MIAMI, March 30 (UPI) -- Andy Murray and David Ferrer, who meet for the Sony Open Tennis title, already have reason to celebrate as they will improve their world rankings next week.

Murray, the world No. 3, takes on fifth-ranked Ferrer in Sunday's final. Both needed three-set wins Friday to get to Sunday's match in the Masters-level tournament.

However, they are assured of climbing in the rankings as of Monday. Murray will pass Roger Federer for the No. 2 spot and Ferrer retakes the No. 4 ranking from Rafael Nadal. Neither Federer nor Nadal entered the Sony Open this year.

For Murray it's a return to the second spot in the rankings, which he held for three weeks in August 2009. Ferrer slipped back to fifth behind Nadal earlier this month and he's never been higher than fourth in the rankings.

Murray owns a 6-5 career edge over Ferrer, including a very tight four-set win in the quarterfinals last year at Wimbledon in their most recent meeting. Their only finals pairing ended with Murray winning the Masters tournament in Shanghai in 2011.

Murray will be seeking his ninth Masters title -- he was runner-up to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic last year in Miami -- and 26th ATP title. He's 1-1 in title matches this year, winning at Brisbane but falling to Djokovic in the Australian Open final.

Ferrer is 1-4 in Masters finals and has 20 ATP championships after wins this year in Auckland and Buenos Aires.