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Djokovic and Youzhny reach Dubai final

Novak Djokovic shows his delight after defeating Marcos Baghdatis in a tight semifinal in Dubai.
Novak Djokovic shows his delight after defeating Marcos Baghdatis in a tight semifinal in Dubai.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Novak Djokovic and Mikhail Youzhny are through to the final of the Dubai Championship
  • Second seed Djokovic had to dig deep to progress against Marcos Baghdatis
  • Seventh seed Youzhny came through in straight sets against Jurgen Melzer
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(CNN) -- Novak Djokovic and Mikhail Youzhny are through to the final of the Dubai Tennis Championship after both players came through tough semifinal matches on Friday.

Second seed Djokovic once again had to dig deep to progress in the tournament, beating Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in three tough sets after also battling through against both Viktor Troicki and Ivan Ljubicic in previous rounds.

The Serb lost the opening set 7-2 on a tie-break, but battled back in style top go through 6-7 6-3 6-4.

"It was an incredible struggle again," Djokovic told the official ATP Tour Web site.

"Playing almost three hours against somebody that keeps the ball in the court in the rally for a long time, it was very close. Every game was on the edge, I think.

Meanwhile, seventh seed Youzhny was also made to fight for his victory, beating Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-5 7-6.