Davydenko, Melzer Reach Final at ATP St. Poelten

Posted on May 21, 2005

No. 4 seed Jurgen Melzer, spurred on by his homecountry fans in St. Poelten, reached his second career final Friday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over unseeded Christophe Rochus.

"I put a lot of pressure on his serve forcing him to come up with good shots to hold serves," Melzer said. "When we were rallying from the baseline I tried to come in as much as possible and it worked well."

Melzer is 0-1 in career finals.

Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko will also contest the final after easing past Argentine Jose Acasuso 6-4, 6-2.

Davydenko has reached semifinals at Barcelona and the Masters Series-Hamburg during his French Open run-up, and now the championship match in St. Poelten.

"My body was tired and feeling strange but I managed to win it in the end which made things easier," Davydenko said. "In the second set, I got more into the match, started to play and feel better and fought every single point which allowed me to close the match easily."

Davydenko beat Melzer in their only previous meeting earlier this year in three sets at the Masters Series-Monte Carlo.

"I plan to make him run," Davydenko said. "He obviously wants to win in front of his home crowd."

The doubles final will be (3) Damm/Hood vs. (2) Arnold/Hanley.