Top-seeded Novak Djokovic saved two match points before beating Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (2) on Friday in the quarter-finals of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy.
Djokovic faced a pair of match points while trailing 5-4 in the third set, but he managed to save both and hold his serve.
"Chela was really great today. I had a bit of luck beating him," Djokovic said.
In the semi-finals, the third-ranked Serb was due play Andreas Seppi, who upset two-time defending champion Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-3.
Also advancing was Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Ferrero was due to play Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who rallied to beat 2004 champion Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-4.
Djokovic converted his only break point to win the first set. In the second, he added another break to lead 4-2, but the Argentine then had eight break points and converted two of them to level the match.
Before the start of the third set, Djokovic got medical treatment on a back muscle.
The third-seeded Ljubicic had not lost in Vienna in 12 consecutive matches, winning the event in 2005 and last year.
"I missed some shots I usually make but Seppi played the best tennis of his life," said the Croat, who was sidelined for two weeks before the tournament because of kidney stones. "I was really upset on court. Whatever I tried, it just did not work. We train a lot together, so he knows my game very well."
Seppi reached his second semi-final of the year after losing the final in Gstaad, Switzerland, in July.
"It is great to be the first to beat Ljubicic here," Seppi said. "My game was very consistent and I hardly made any mistakes from the baseline."
The 73rd-ranked Italian broke Ljubicic in the opening game and added another break at 5-3 to win the first set.
Seppi had another break early in the second, and then saved two break points before finishing the match with an ace on his third match point.
Ferrero reached his fourth semi-final of the season by beating last year's finalist Gonzalez.
The 23rd-ranked Spaniard converted the only break chance in the opening set.
Gonzalez failed to convert either of two break points early in the second, but leveled the match when Ferrero hit a forehand wide on another break chance at 5-4.
After an early break in the decider, Ferrero missed three match points at 5-3, but finally finished off the match after saving a break point at 5-4.
Wawrinka rallied from a set down to win a match for the third time this tournament.
"Obviously I need some time to settle down in a match," Wawrinka said.
The 41st-ranked Wawrinka missed a set point in the first-set tiebreaker, but had one break in both the second and the third set to turn the match around.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was