Valencia, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Mikhail Youzhny claimed his second title of the year with a straight-set victory over defending champion David Ferrer in Sunday's final of the Valencia Open.
Youzhny earned a 6-3, 7-5 triumph for his 10th career title. He also won this year in Gstaad, while falling to Roger Federer in the Halle final in June.
Ferrer, meanwhile, fell to 2-6 in finals this year with his sixth straight title-match setback. After winning in Auckland and Buenos Aires early in 2013, the Spaniard lost finals in Acapulco, Miami, Portugal, Stockholm and at the French Open before this week's loss.
Rafael Nadal had beaten Ferrer twice this year, including at Roland Garros, while Andy Murray got him in Miami and Stan Wawrinka in Poland. The last two finals have come against lesser opponents, as Grigor Dimitrov knocked Ferrer off last week in Sweden before Sunday's stunner.
Youzhny, however, has played Ferrer well and now leads the all-time series, 5-3. The two hadn't met since the third round of the 2012 French Open, a straight-set win for Ferrer. Sunday marked their first matchup in a final.
The Russian Youzhny, ranked 21st in the world, improved to 10-11 all-time in title matches and has won multiple titles in a season for the first time since 2010. He was the 2009 Valencia runner-up.
Ferrer, the top seed this week and third-ranked player in the world, fell to 20-21 all-time in finals. He is 3-3 in Valencia title matches, winning the crown in 2008 and 2010 before last year.
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