Nikolay Davydenko beat David Ferrer with a 7-5 7-6 (7/2) victory at the International German Open in Hamburg.

The Russian second seed fought back from 5-2 down in the opening set with five straight games and then edged a close second set to see off the sixth seed.

Davydenko, whose last title came in Warsaw last June, missed three months of the season with a heel injury.

The world number 12 will face Paul-Henri Mathieu in tomorrow's final after he fought back from a set and a break down to beat qualifier Pablo Cuevas 4-6 6-3 7-5.

The Uruguayan had beaten three seeds to reach the last four and recovered from 2-5 down in the decider to level at 5-5 only for 13th seed Mathieu to pull away again.

The Frenchman last reached a ATP Tour final in Metz last year, when he lost to Dmitry Tursunov, and he said: "It's a good week so far but for sure you want to win when you are in the final."