Max Mirnyi of Belarus will play for his second career title when he battles two-time ATP winner Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark in the final of the Regions Morgan Keenan Championships in Memphis.

This will be the second meeting between the two players. The first meeting came in the first round of the indoor event in Milan in 2003, and Mirnyi came away with a 7-5 2-6 4-0 win after Carlsen retired with a hip injury.

Advancing to the finals with a walkover has helped Carlsen advance having spent a considerably shorter amount of time on court this week. Carlsen has played four hours and 44 minutes of tennis this week, compared to eight hours and 12 minutes for Mirnyi. If you add Mirnyi's doubles matches, he's spent a total of 12 hours and 10 minutes on the court this week.

This is the third career final for Mirnyi, all of which have come indoors. His only career title came at Rotterdam in 2003. His only other final appearance was at the ATP Masters Series event in Stuttgart in 2001. In four matches this week, Mirnyi has fired 74 aces. For the year he's hit 232 aces, an average of 14.5 per match. This week Mirnyi has played five tie-breaks, winning four, including three by a score of 7-1. For the year, Mirnyi is 11-3 in tie-breaks.

Mirnyi saved three match points in his first round win over Brian Baker, with all three coming in the third set tiebreak. Mirnyi is looking to become just the second player to save a match point en route to a title this year. The only player save a match point before winning a title this year is Marat Safin, who saved a match point in his semifinal win over Roger Federer on his way to the Australian Open title.

This is just the second appearance for Mirnyi in Memphis. He now owns a 4-1 record all-time here. Mirnyi has had tremendous success on indoor courts. For his career, he is 72-47 (.605 winning percentage) on indoor courts, and 113-117 (.491) on outdoor courts.

Carlsen has faced big servers all week, withstanding 11 aces from Gregory Carraz, 20 from Wayne Arthurs and 14 from Jan-Michael Gambill. Carlsen has converted five of his 12 break chances this week. The Dane has also been holding his serve well, having saved five of the eight break points he's faced this week. All three breaks of Carlsen's serve came in the second set of his opening round match against Gregory Carraz.

In his six career finals, Carlsen has won two titles, coming in Hong Kong in 1998 (d B. Black) and Tokyo in 2002 (d Norman). The Tokyo title was his last finals appearance. This is the fifth appearance for Carlsen in Memphis. He is 7-4 all-time here, and has won three matches in one year for the first time in Memphis. He debuted here in 1994.

The winner of Sunday's final will earn 50 INDESIT ATP 2005 Race points and will take home a check for $128,000. The runner-up will get 35 Race points and $67,500.

THE PLACE TO BE….. Feb. 11 – 20 ….. is The Racquet Club of Memphis. Ten days of world class tennis awaits you. Help serve an ace to the players, the Memphis community, and the children of St. Jude by purchasing tickets to the always-exciting event.

To purchase your tickets and receive additional information, call Carolyn Hicks at 901.685.ACES or visit the tournament website www.regionsmorgankeeganchampionships.com.