Crowd-pleaser Roger Federer of Switzerland staged an heroic recovery from a set and a break down against fellow countryman Stanislas Wawrinka to reach the semi-finals of the Stockholm Open 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, as home favorite Robin Soderling crashed out.
Hopes of a potential elite final between the tournament’s top two evaporated when Soderling went down to defeat against German outsider Florian Mayer 7-6 (10/8), 6-1.
Federer’s patchy game in the first set was unrecognizable from the powerhouse comeback which suddenly snapped into place as he trailed a set and 0-2, and which carried him to victory in just under two hours.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“It was looking pretty bad,” Federer said. “Stan was looking really good. Things were going quickly for me, I had no timing and was shanking balls. He was dominating, it was tough for me to stay in it, but I tried, I got lucky and all of a sudden I was back in the match. I fought my way out of this and I’m excited to be in the semis.”
No. 47 Mayer, was stunned by his success over Soderling and at reaching a second semi-final this season.
“It was unbelievable to beat a top 10 player at home, indoors on his favorite surface,” Mayer said. “In the first set I had no chance on his serve, he could have won it 6-4, but after I won the tiebreak, I could see that he was mentally broken. I took advantage, the last three games of the match were easy.”
Soderling admitted he lost his way.
“Clearly, it’s tough to lose,” said the player who will have to wait until his next event to qualify for the eight-man season finals in London next month.
A victory over the 47th-ranked Meyer would have put the Swede into the field alongside Rafael Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
“My timing was not fully there and at the same time, he played very well,” said the two-time Roland Garros finalist. “I didn’t come up to standard today. I was a bit early on my backhand all evening.”
Mayer will next play Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, who thrashed two-time champion James Blake 6-0, 6-2 in 49 minutes.
“I’ve had a great run since New York, I’m feeling very confident with my game. I knew it would only be a matter of time. I’m a truthful guy and I say what I mean — I knew that sooner or later things would turn,” Nieminen said.
Federer’s victory gave him his 50th win of the season, the first player to win that many for nine straight years since Pete Sampras completed the feat in 1998.
He will face good friend Ivan Ljubicic, who made a great escape from potential fellow Croatian spoiler Ivan Dodig, earning a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback win.
Ljubicic lost the opening set, but took the second on a double break and went up an early break in the third to finally post his 23rd win of the season against 16 losses.
“I had some chances in the first set which I didn’t manage to take, but I know Ivan’s game well and there is nothing that I can do on court that he had not already seen,” Ljubicic said. “I’m just happy to be in the semi-finals. It will be great to play Roger, as we’ve not played in an official match in two years.”
KREMLIN CUP
REUTERS, MOSCOW
Second seed Victoria Azarenka reached the Kremlin Cup semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-3 thrashing of home hope Alisa Kleybanova on Friday.
The powerful Belarussian, known for her loud grunting on the court, dispatched the seventh-seeded Russian in less than 100 minutes to set up a clash with Spanish eighth seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who eliminated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-3.
“I took the initiative right from the start and never let her into the match,” Azarenka told reporters. “I think I’m finding my top form at just the right moment.”
The world No. 10 had already secured her spot in the season-ending WTA championships in Doha when Serena Williams of the US pulled out with a foot injury.
The second women’s semi-final will be an all-Russian affair, with sixth seed Maria Kirilenko facing unseeded Vera Dushevina.
Kirilenko overpowered Kazakh teenager Zarina Diyas 6-1, 6-2, while Dushevina edged out compatriot Anna Chakvetadze 6-3, 7-6 (9/7).
The 268th-ranked Diyas, who turned 17 earlier this week, stunned top seed Jelena Jankovic 24 hours earlier, but had no answer to the speed and precision of Kirilenko.
On the men’s side, the seeds continued to fall, with fifth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic becoming the latest casualty after being upset 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) by Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas, who eliminated top seed Nikolay Davydenko in the second round.
Cuevas now takes on in-form Serbian Viktor Troicki, who followed Thursday’s victory over third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with a 6-2, 6-1 thrashing of Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos.
Fourth-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, making his Moscow debut, avoided an early exit when he saved three set-points in the second-set tiebreaker to beat Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) in the last match on Center Court.
Baghdatis, the highest men’s seed left, faces unseeded Denis Istomin in the semi-finals after the Uzbek eliminated the last remaining Russian in the men’s draw. He beat surprise 2008 winner Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 6-4.
LUXEMBOURG OPEN
AP, LUXEMBOURG
Ana Ivanovic’s recent run of good results came to an end on Friday with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat by Julia Goerges in the Luxembourg Open quarter-finals.
Former world No. 1 Ivanovic beat Goerges on her way to ending a run of two years without a title at the Generali Ladies in Linz, Austria, last week, but lost in an hour to the eighth-seeded German on Friday.
Goerges will face fellow German Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals. Kerber beat Polana Hercog of Slovenia 6-4, 6-2 to earn a last-four spot for the first time since her debut WTA final in Bogota, Colombia, in February.
Britain’s Anne Keothavong overcame Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-4 to book a semi-final against Italy’s Roberta Vinci, who beat Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
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