Younzhny Beats Berdych, Kohlscheiber Awaits in Munich Final

Youzhny is shooting for his second title of the year and the fourth of his ATP career, while Kohlschreiber is seeking his first ATP title.

Kohlschreiber captured their only prior encounter. In the semifinals, Youzhny beat No. 2 seed Tomas Berdych, while Kohlschreiber upset fourth seed Marcos Baghdatis.

Youzhny, 24, is playing in his third final of the year. He won the crown at Rotterdam in February (d. Ljubicic) and was runner-up a week later at Dubai (l. to Federer). He went 9-1 during that stretch and is 16-7 for the rest of the year. In addition to Rotterdam, he took home the trophy from Stuttgart in 2002 and St. Petersburg in 2004.

Youzhny earned his 200th ATP match victory in the quarterfinals here. He has a career record of 9-4 in Munich, reaching the semifinals in his 2002 debut but falling in the first round in his two most recent appearances (2006, 2004).

Kohlschreiber, 23, who resides in Oberhaching, is playing in his first ATP final. Two weeks ago, he made his third quarterfinal appearance of the year -- at Masters Series Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal), That was the best result of his career at an ATP Masters Series event. Until this week, Kohlschreiber’s top performance was a semifinal finish at Gstaad last year.

Kohlschreiber has a career mark of 7-3 at this event, reaching the quarterfinals last year (l. to Vliegen).