Roger Federer puts an 18-match winning streak at his home Swiss Indoors tournament on the line against old school friend Marco Chiudinelli in the semi-finals.
The dream scenario in the hometown of both men is the first for the pair in their tennis careers. Federer, winner of the last three editions, dispatched Russian Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 6-2 in his quarter-final, while world No. 73 Chiudinelli hammered Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-3 to reach his first semi-final.
“It’s so rare that I play a good friend like this,” Federer said of his school friend and former rival on the soccer pitch.
PHOTO: EPA
Novak Djokovic stayed atop the ATP win list with his 69th victory of a draining campaign on Friday to reach the semi-finals, then admitted he’s dreaming of a vacation next month.
The Serbian second seed defeated Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka, the sixth seed, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 after trailing a set and a break.
“A proper off-season should be a month and a half or so,” Djokvic said of a break which will amount to a month for those elite players participating in the eight-man Wold Tour Finals in London from Nov. 22.
PHOTO: AFP
Djokovic will now face Radek Stepanek who dimmed the qualifying hopes of Croatian Marin Cilic for a last-gasp spot in the season-ending ATP finals with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 upset.
Croatia’s Cilic stands provisional 12th in the points race as he fights for one of a pair of slots remaining open in London, but after a promising start, Cilic fell victim to the court craft that has made the 30-year-old Czech opponent such a threat.
Stepanek, playing Basel for the first time, completed his turnaround win in two hours, overcoming 10 aces from Cilic and breaking on all four of his opportunities. Cilic played the final last week in Vienna and was hoping for a running start this week heading into the Paris Masters today, the last event of the regular season.
Stepanek now stands 44-18 for a year in which he earned the third and fourth ATP titles of his career in Brisbane and San Jose. Cilic, 21, is still riding the best season of his young career, 46-20 with two titles.
■VALENCIA OPEN
REUTERS, VALENCIA, SPAIN
Top seed Andy Murray gave Spaniard Albert Montanes a 6-4, 6-2 mauling in the quarter-finals of the Valencia Open on Friday as the Briton continued his comeback from a wrist injury.
The world No. 4, who before this week had not played on the ATP tour since September’s US Open, dropped a set against little-known Argentine Leonardo Mayer in Thursday’s second round, but looked back on top form against Montanes, ranked No. 34.
He broke serve four times on the way to winning the first set and opening a 4-0 lead in the second, wrapping up the match with a forehand winner.
“My wrist is still giving me some pain, but I am feeling better every day,” Murray said. “I played well today and tomorrow I hope to improve even more.”
The Scot will play Fernando Verdasco in the semi-finals after the Spanish fourth seed nailed a slew of crashing winners to brush aside compatriot and seventh seed Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-2.
Verdasco’s win and a victory earlier on Friday for Russian second seed Nikolay Davydenko means they both remain on track to secure the remaining two places at the World Tour Finals in London later this month.
Davydenko beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) and will contest a place in today’s final with compatriot Mikhail Youzhny, who maintained his dominance over Gilles Simon by beating the French fifth seed 6-4, 6-4.
Youzhny saved all 11 break points he faced and it was his fifth victory in five meetings between the pair. Verdasco’s win ended both Simon’s and Robredo’s hopes of securing a place in London.
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There were some big games to be played yesterday in the NBA, with the Atlanta Hawks to play the Detroit Pistons in a matchup pitting a Hawks team who are rolling against a Pistons team trying to lock up the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed. The Oklahoma City Thunder were to play the Boston Celtics, a showdown featuring the two most recent champions, while the Houston Rockets faced the Minnesota Timberwolves, a game that could factor mightily into Western Conference seeding. Elsewhere, the Washington Wizards were to play the Utah Jazz, with the Wizards on a 16-game slide visiting against a team
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