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Tursunov bounces back to beat Wang

Sixth seed Dmitry Tursunov survived a scare to reach the Thailand Open semi-finals after beating Taiwanese wildcard Jimmy Wang 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 yesterday.

After losing the first set Tursonov hit back to take the second but Wang, appearing in only his second career quarter-final, battled hard throughout the decider and frustrated the Russian with some solid returns.

However, the Russian baseliner eventually prevailed, using his superior ground strokes to enjoy his best result since winning in Indianapolis in July.

"He returned well. I thought I would get points from my serves but they came back pretty penetrative. But I felt pretty good in the end and was happy to manage to win," Tursunov said.

"It was a difficult match. I could have easily lost, the important thing is I'm through," said Tursunov, the world number 29, who won his second career title in Indianapolis.

"After you have been on the tour for five to six years, other players know your game. I'm in a position to be under pressure because I have higher ranking and have more to lose. It's psychological [pressure] that everybody has to deal with," he said.

Tursunov next plays Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco who also rallied from behind to beat Nicolas Mahut of France 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in two hours and 26 minutes.

In a fiercely-contested match, Mahut took the first set and was on the verge of victory in the second when he broke the eighth-seeded Spaniard at 5-4.

But Verdasco battled back, capitalizing on some sloppy returns from the 71-ranked Frenchman to force a tiebreak, where he overpowered Mahut 7-2.

Verdasco returned for the third set full of confidence, sealing victory with some neat backhands and stinging forehand drives from the backcourt.

"I was so tired all the match, but in the second set he gave me that break and I was thinking `win it, or I'm out,'" Verdasco told the media.

"I used all my power to win that game. That gave me confidence to win the tiebreak. Now, my focus is winning my semi-final, maybe the tournament too," he said.

Venus Williams reached the Korea Open semi-finals yesterday by beating Marta Domachowska of Poland 6-2, 6-3.

The top-seeded Williams used powerful and accurate returns but still trailed 3-1 in the second set before winning five straight games.

"I wasn't at my best today," the Wimbledon champion said. "There is no specific problem, I just feel a little tired. Now it is time to get ready for the semi-final tomorrow."

Williams will face Flavia Pennetta in the semi-finals. The Italian defeated Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-1, 6-2.

Second-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary retired with an injury after splitting the first two sets with Eleni Daniilidou 4-6, 7-5.

The fifth-seeded Greek will next play fourth-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko, who beat Catalina Castano of Colombia 6-3, 6-0.
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