POERTSCHACH, Austria — Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko will play defending champion Juan Monaco in the final of the Hypo Group International on Saturday.

In today's semifinals, Davydenko beat Russian compatriot Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 6-2, and second-seeded Monaco saved three match points before beating Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4).

Davydenko and Monaco are 1-1. Their most recent meeting was a quarterfinal match at last year's Hypo Group International.

"I will have to raise my game to have a chance of beating him this time," said Davydenko, who has 12 career ATP titles.

"Even at three match points down, I was not thinking about losing," Monaco said. "It means a lot to me to reach another final. In Vina del Mar, I had to pull out because of an injury, so I am highly motivated to play well now."

Ljubicic broke Monaco's first service game, but the Argentine won four straight games and closed out the opening set when Ljubicic hit a backhand long.

Ljubicic missed three second-set points on Monaco's serve while leading 6-5 before racing to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreaker after some big serves and groundstrokes.

Monaco narrowed the gap to 6-4, but Ljubicic converted his sixth set point to even the match.

Ljubicic broke early in the deciding set and had three match points on Monaco's serve at 5-3. However, Monaco held and broke in the next game before winning on his first match point in the tiebreaker.

Monaco was helped by the presence of another Argentine tennis player, Guillermo Vilas, who won four Grand Slams in the late 1970s.

"He was my idol, I have a lot of videos of his matches," Monaco said. "Guillermo just told me he arrived when I was 5-3 down in the final set, so he brought me some luck."

Davydenko, who had 22 unforced errors, lost serve early in the opening set against the 111th-ranked Kunitsyn, but had two breaks before converting his first set point.

The third-ranked Russian was in control of the second set after an early break and holding serve comfortably throughout.

Davydenko closed out the match on his second match point when Kunitsyn hit a backhand wide.

"I was not at my best, I was very tired after playing two three-set matches yesterday and was lacking of power," Davydenko said. "I will need a good rest to be fit for the final."

The clay-court tournament is a warm-up event for the French Open, which starts on Sunday.

"This is my best possible preparation for Paris," said Monaco, who will play Robin Soderling of Sweden in the opening round at Roland Garros.