"It's a very mental game," said the Serb. "People don't realize how much tension you have to go through throughout the match. It took a lot of energy for me. Stopping and playing, and coming back and then again stopping the match last night because of the rain."

A storm halted play on Saturday with Djokovic a set and a break up. He started Sunday well, going three games ahead, before Youzhny — runner up in 2007 — stormed back to square the set at 3-3, breaking back after the Serb hit a cross-court shot into the net.

The players then exchanged further breaks, with Djokovic smashing his racket until it buckled after he double-faulted to put his opponent 5-4 up. Youzhny eventually won the set as the Russian adapted better to the searing afternoon heat, markedly different to Saturday's cool evening.

"The ball travels so fast during the day, it's incredible.

It's like ten times faster than during the night. It's much less control during the day, so it's frustrating," Djokovic said.

He again raced into a 3-0 lead in the decider and although Youzhny broke to level at 3-3, the second seed upped his game again. The Russian hit a long forehand to allow Djokovic to serve out the match, the exhausted Serb collapsing to his knees in triumph.

"Today was another good example of how much I believe in myself and how much I fight till the end," added Djokovic, who gained swift revenge for Youzhny's straight sets victory in the semifinals of the Rotterdam Open earlier this month.

"All the time when I lose I'm disappointed," said the Russian. "Today I try to play aggressive, maybe more aggressive (than) usual if I want to save this match."

In Kuala Lumpur, Alisa Kleybanova beat top seed Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2 in a rain-disrupted all-Russian final to claim her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open on Sunday.

The 20-year-old world No. 29, playing in her first tour final, ramped up her big serve to great effect to see off her far more experienced compatriot and win the $220,000 tournament.

The match was just eight minutes old and tied at 1-1 when a torrential downpour brought play to a stop.

Kleybanova returned from the break invigorated and proceeded to win the next three games before world No. 7 Dementieva battled her way into the match by breaking back for 4-3.

The revival proved to be short-lived, however, and Kleybanova muscled her way to another break before serving out to go a set up, bringing up set point with her fourth ace.

The 28-year-old Dementieva, looking for her third title in just five outings this season after success in Sydney and Paris, had little more security on her serve in the second set.

There was a brief rally when the Olympic champion battled her way to a break point in the second game but Kleybanova saved it and never looked like giving up the lead from then on, serving out to love to claim the match.

In Delray Beach, Florida, Ernests Gulbis of Latvia and Ivo Karlovic of Croatia will play in the final at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships on Sunday.

Gulbis reached his first career final with a 6-4, 6-4 semifinal win over Jarkko Nieminen of Finland on Saturday, while Karlovic took out defending champion Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-3.

Karlovic, who is in the hunt for a fifth career title, will face the 21-year-old Gulbis for the first time on the same day he celebrates his 31st birthday.

Gulbis, who has reached two other semifinals, was serving for the match at 6-4, 5-4 when rain interrupted play for just over three hours. It took the 72nd-ranked Gulbis two minutes to serve out the match when they went back on court in front of 61 spectators.

He finished in fine style with a 125 mph (201 kph) ace.

Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 1 doubles team in the world, captured their 600th career match win by beating fellow Americans Taylor Dent and Ryan Harrison 6-7 (6), 7-5 (10-4) in the semifinals.