Djokovic and Youzhny head to Dubai final

Djokovic, the $2.2 million tournament's No. 2 seed and last year's titlist, earned his finals spot with a 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4 victory Friday over Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. Youzhny took a tight 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) decision from Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

Djokovic and Youzhny have split their six previous meetings with the Russian winning two tie-breakers two weeks ago in the Netherlands. The winner Saturday will collect $383,000 while the runner-up settles for $180,000. Baghdatis and Melzer each received $85,000 as semifinalists.

Friday marked the third consecutive match Djokovic dropped the first set. He had 10 double faults overall and faced 16 break-point chances but Baghdatis was able to cash on three of those opportunities. Djokovic fought off 10 of 11 break points in the second set and advanced despite winning fewer points (102-100) overall than Baghdatis.

Youzhny recorded his match's only service break in claiming the first set against Melzer and used an improving serve to hold on through the tie-breaker to finish off the victory.

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