Frenchman Gilles Simon put up a fight before second seed Novak Djokovic struggled through into his second straight semi-final in China with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win at the Shanghai Masters yesterday.
Second seed Djokovic backed up his Beijing title of last weekend as he overcame stiff resistance to advance into the last four, with Simon saving a pair of match points.
The Serb broke to start the opening set before Simon, winner of the Bangkok title last month, retaliated by taking the second.
PHOTO: AFP
A run of breaks in the third finally ended with Djokovic taking a 4-2 lead on his way to a semi-final spot in his fifth Masters 1000 of the season.
Nikolay Davydenko moved closer to a spot in next month’s season-ending showpiece in London with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 defeat of Radek Stepanek in his quarter-final.
The Russian sixth seed, who missed three months of the season with injuries but has still reached a dozen quarter-finals this year, leapfrogged Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez to currently stand a provisional ninth in the race to the World Tour Finals.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Three places remain up for grabs in the eight-man field with a month of the regular ATP season to go.
Davydenko, aged 28, next faces Djokovic standing 0-3 in the series.
Spain’s unseeded Feliciano Lopez continued his winning streak, producing his best showing of the year for a place in the final four with an upset of ninth seed Robin Soderling 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
PHOTO: AFP
The Swede, who played the Roland Garros final against Roger Federer, led 4-2 in the opening set before Lopez, 28 and ranked 41st, seized the momentum for the win in 94 minutes with three breaks of serve and 30 unforced errors by Soderling.
Davydenko regained control against 13th-seed Stepanek after the 30-year-old Czech won the second set to pull level.
Davydenko re-established his dominance in the final set as he broke twice and went through on his first match point after just over two hours at the Qi Zhong Complex.
“Stepanek changed the game in the second set. He started to better return and play better from the baseline. He’s very difficult to play, so unpredictable,” Davydenko said.
The Russian is trying to complete the autumn Asian swing with a second title after lifting his third of the season in Kuala Lumpur a fortnight ago.
“I’ve had good results in Asia for three weeks,” he said. “I still have three more tournaments this season. I hope I can play well [at the final Masters 1000 of the season] at Paris Bercy and defend my semi-final there.”
In the last quarter-final between Rafael Nadal and Ivan Ljubicic, the score as at press time last night saw Ljubicic leading 6-3, 1-2.
■GENERALI LADIES
AFP, LINZ, AUSTRIA
Top seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy was taken to three sets by Anna-Lena Groenefeld and second seed Agnieszka Radwanska was severely tested by a resurgent Alize Cornet before both advanced to the quarter-finals of the WTA event on Thursday.
Pennetta failed to dominate her German opponent, who rallied with confidence and offered a stern challenge until a double-fault gave Pennetta a break for 2-1 in the final set.
A weak netted backhand resulted in a further break for 4-1 to leave Pennetta firmly in control as she prevailed 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Radwanska took more than two hours to beat Cornet of France 6-4, 7-5 and admitted that it was largely her desire to reach the WTA Championships in Doha that is keeping her going.
“This is my third tournament in a row and I’m very tired, so I’m very happy I finished this match in two sets,” the Pole said. “For sure I was going to be in trouble in a third set. I’m actually exhausted, but I’m trying not to think about the pain and tired legs and just to keep going and try to earn a lot of points here and in Moscow so I can go to Doha.”
Cornet has come close to falling out of the top 50 after being ranked 11th in February. In her next 18 tournaments she won three matches to reach the semi-finals in Bad Gastein, but claimed just six wins in her other 17 tournaments.
After her first round victory, however, she revealed that she has recently regained her motivation and that was clearly in evidence as she tormented Radwanska with persistence and several spectacular winners. Although Radwanska built a 5-2 lead in the first set, she failed to serve it out at her first opportunity and in the second set, Cornet again recovered when Radwanska served for the match at 5-4. A lengthy 11th game of the set, though, saw Radwanska break again and she safely served out for the match at her second try.
“She’s like a wall, you know,” Radwanska said. “Everything is coming back and finishing the point is so hard, especially here where the court is slow. You really have to run a lot to win the point. The first match was also like this. I was up two breaks [in the first set], but it was still close and dangerous. At 5-3 I had 30-0, but she started playing unbelievable and she won I think eight points in a row. I was in trouble. Then the game at 5-5 [in the second set] was very long and important for this match.”
Third seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium also struggled before overcoming Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. The match reflected Dulgheru’s year.
■JAPAN OPEN
AFP, OSAKA, JAPAN
Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki avenged her recent loss to Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada yesterday to reach the semi-finals at the Japan Open women’s tennis tournament.
The 19-year-old Danish top seed, who conceded a match against the Canadian while suffering a viral illness in Tokyo two weeks ago, restored her status with a 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 6-2 win.
Wozniacki, ranked sixth in the world after her runner-up finish at the US Open, took the last four games in a row to win the first set with ease. She found herself 0-4 down in a second-set tie-breaker, eventually losing it 1-7.
The Dane chalked up a comfortable 4-0 lead, however, in the final set and was never again in danger in the 2 hour, 13 minute battle.
In the semi-finals today, Wozniacki takes on third seed Samantha Stosur of Australia, the winner over 2002 champion Jill Craybas of the US.
The other semi-final match will be played between fourth seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy and Indian star Sania Mirza, who both got through their quarter-final matches comfortably.
Schiavone walked over seventh seed Melinda Czink of Hungary, who abandoned yesterday’s match with a right foot injury.
The 22-year-old Mirza defeated 2006 champion Marion Bartoli when the French second seed retired with a right shoulder problem at 6-4, 2-0 down.
Bartoli was vying for the final spot in the season-ending championships against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
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