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Murry digs deep on down Haas

Chan Yung-jan, left, and Chuang Chia-jung hold up the Taiwanese flag after beating fourth-seeded duo Nathalie Dechy and Vera Zvonareva in the doubles semi-finals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, on Friday. PHOTO PROVIDED BY LIU HSUEH-CHEN

Britain's No 1 Andy Murray had to overcome a nasty fall to post one of the more remarkable comebacks of his career on Friday.

The 19-year-old Scot defeated Germany's Tommy Haas 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) in the quarter-finals of the ATP/WTA Pacific Life Open.

Murray moves on to the semi-finals of the US$5.3 million hardcourt tournament in the California desert where he will play Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who beat David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 6-4.

"It was pretty eventful," Murray said. "It was a great match. At one point I didn't think I was going to be able to continue."

It also was a gritty performance in front of an announced crowd of 15,418 by Murray.

He had not only had to recover from a first set loss, but also suffered a nasty fall early in the second set which resulted in one of several visits by the trainer for treatment.

On the women's side of the draw former champ Daniela Hantuchova set up a finals showdown with second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, while China's Li Na suffered a semi-final defeat.

Murray also fought off two match points in the tie break then clinched the match on his second match point when Haas pushed a backhand long to end the almost three hour match.

Murray started slow in dropping the first set, then found his serve in the second and forced Haas into making mistakes on his groundstroke in the third.

There was a strange twist early in the second set which resulted in a nine-minute delay after Murray tumbled hard while running for a drop shot.

Murray stepped awkwardly and flew through the air before landing on his side. He immediately grabbed his left ankle.

He lay face down on the ground in pain until Haas reached him. Haas helped him sit up before the medical trainer arrived and treated Murray for a twisted ankle and a bloody knee.

"I had the momentum in the second set and when I fell it was a bit of a shock," said Murray, who plays with a brace on his left ankle.

"I had problems with my ankle before and I told Tommy I felt something snap but it might have been the strap on the brace," he said.

"The trainer taped it up and said it wasn't so bad so I continued to play but then my side started to hurt because I fell on it," he said.

"I'm a pretty sore right now. It is hard to bend [knee]. Since I have stopped playing my side is also starting to tighten up. I just hope by tomorrow when I wake up that I am not too sore," Murray said.

He also received treatment for blisters at the end of the first set.

But rather than fade, Murray instead stepped up his game after the injury.

"It looked like he was actually hurt," Haas said. "He took an injury time out and that was fine."

Murray had seven aces, 26 winners and 37 unforced errors to Haas' seven aces, 36 winners and 58 unforced errors.

Murray won his first career title in San Jose last year and then defended it earlier this year.

This was the first career meeting between Murray and Haas, who said he wasn't expecting Murray to play at such a slow pace at times.

"He moves really well but it is incredible how slow he is," Haas said.

"The way we played a couple of rallies it felt like we were back in juniors," he said.

"He plays slice moves and defense. But he came up with some great passing shots on big points," he said.

Hantuchova, the lone former women's champion remaining, defeated Li 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in the semis.

This marks the first final of the year for Hantuchova, who made a name for herself by capturing the 2002 Indian Wells title.

"There is definitely something very special about this place for me," Hantuchova said. "It is a fantastic feeling to be back on the court and in the finals once again."

Kuznetsova defeated Sybille Bammer 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-1 in a two hour, 39 minute marathon semi-final on Friday.

On Wednesday, top seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova and third seed and former champion Martina Hingis were both eliminated.

The draw was already missing big names Serena Williams, Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin, who decided to skip the event.

Local Duo Advances

Fifth-seeded Taiwanese women's tennis duo Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) and Chuang Chia-jung (莊佳容) beat fourth-seeded duo Nathalie Dechy and Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-4 in the Pacific Life Open semi-finals on Friday in 88 minutes.

The duo is set to play top seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in today's finals.

Dechy had earlier defeated Chan in the first round of the women's singles tournament.

The Pacific Life Open is the duo's sixth WTA tournament and also their sixth WTA final.

With the win, Chan and Chuang will get a chance to win their third WTA tournament.

The victory added 325 points to their WTA doubles ranking and ensured that they will make it into the top 20 in next week's official WTA rankings.
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