Mikhail Youzhny won his first title in three years on Sunday with a 6-2 6-4 triumph over third seed Ivan Ljubicic in the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

The unseeded Russian broke Ljubicic twice in the first set.

And he capitalised on a break in the fifth game of the second en route to capturing his first title since St Petersburg in 2004.

Youzhny, for whom this was his third career title, had been 0-6 against Ljubicic in his career.

And he thanked compatriot Nikolay Davydenko for helping him break that sequence, Davydenko having kept Ljubicic on court for two hours and forty-five minutes the evening before.

"I have to thank Nikolay," said Youzhny with a grin. "Ivan was not in optimal form today because of his intense match against Nikolay yesterday."

Ljubicic agreed, adding: "The match yesterday was too much.

"The time I spent on the court with Davydenko felt like six hours instead of almost three.

"I didn't have enough time to recover, my energy level was low and my arm hurt.

"That's a deadly combination."

But the Croatian was full of praise for his victorious opponent.

He added: "It takes some players longer to reach the top 10, but Youzhny is definitely capable of doing it.

"He reached the semi-finals in the US Open last year and his performance has been excellent since then. He just might make the final jump this year.

"Whatever happens, watch this guy. He's got what it takes and he's already won the Davis Cup twice."