Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo eliminated defending champion Ai Sugiyama of Japan in the quarterfinals of the US$585,000 Generali Ladies Open at the Intersport Arena Friday.
Mauresmo defeated Sugiyama 6-2, 6-4. Mauresmo has a much easier time than in her last meeting with Sugiyama, a three-set thriller in Philadelphia which the Frenchwoman won 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5.
PHOTO: AFP
While the Frenchwoman wasted her break points in game two, she converted an opportunity later to take a 3-1 lead.
Mauresmo continued to dominate and while she played nearly faultlessly, her rival committed 14 baseline errors and did not have a single break point in the first set.
However, Sugiyama showed her fighting spirit and surprisingly broke Mauresmo in game one of the second set.
The Japanese player took a 2-0 lead in a set that presented a reverse picture with Sugiyama dominating. But Mauresmo managed to break back in game eight and took a 5-4 lead.
Under pressure again, Sugiyama could not fight back.
"It was a lot of hard work today, especially in the second set, where I had lost my rhythm somehow," Mauresmo said afterwards.
Mauresmo next meets Serb Jelena Jankovic, who ousted Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-4.
Jankovic was brimming with self-confidence after defeating Nadia Petrova and Daniela Hantuchova to reach the quarterfinals in Filderstadt, Germany, and broke the favored Zvonareva in the opening game of their match.
Both competitors played stirring power tennis but Jankovic had better returns and always seemed to have an answer for the Russian.
Compared to her opponent, Zvonareva, who was playing her 73rd singles match on the tour this season, seemed exhausted at times.
Jankovic, 19, impressed with her mature play and broke her rival again in game three of the second set. However, this time, Zvonareva managed to break back, only to lose her following service game.
Jankovic hung on and wrapped up the victory in front of her parents, reaching her second career semifinals after Budapest, where she won her first WTA title.
In the third quarterfinal, Elena Bovina benefited from an injury to her Russian compatriot Alina Jidkova to advance to the next round.
Jidkova, who had won the opening set in a tie break, suffered from a worsening thigh injury and finally had to retire, handing Bovina the win, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 3-0. Bovina will take on fellow Russian Nadia Petrova. The fifth-seeded Petrova ousted unseeded American Meghann Shaughnessy in a see-saw match 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Swiss Indoors
Second-seeded Tim Henman of Britain lost a prime chance at securing a berth in the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Houston next month, losing 7-6 (5), 7-5 to Czech Jiri Novak in Friday's quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors men's tennis tournament.
Henman, the 1998 and 2001 champion here, saw his chances of qualifying for the Houston tournament further endangered when fourth-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina overcame back pains to stage a remarkable 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 comeback victory over sixth-seeded German Rainer Schuettler, keeping alive his own slim chances of traveling to Texas.
Five of the eight places at the Houston event have already been locked up with this year's triple Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Carlos Moya and French Open champion Gaston Gaudio guaranteed spots.
Henman, who has been taking supplements for a magnesium deficiency that sapped him in Madrid last week, is battling Guillermo Coria, Marat Safin, Andre Agassi and Nalbandian for one of just three other berths available. Their fates will unfold at next week's Paris Masters.
Henman can still qualify for Houston regardless of how the others do as long as he reaches the quarterfinals in Paris.
"It's a bit premature to start thinking about how I feel heading to Paris. Of course it gives me confidence with the way I played there last year but with so many points at stake for everyone, you never know what's going to happen," said Henman, who will attempt to defend his title in Paris. "Right now I'm disappointed I didn't progress further. It's frustrating to play a match as tight as that and come up short."
In the semifinals, Novak will play Austria's Stefan Koubek, who posted his third impressive victory in a row, defeating Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Novak won all four of their previous meetings without dropping a set.
Koubek, ranked 73rd, has had a strong run in Basel. The Austrian began with an impressive win over Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, before toppling the third-seeded Gaudio to reach the quarterfinals.
Nicolas Massu of Chile finally delivered the kind of performance that led to his two Olympic gold medals in August, marching into the semifinals with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over lucky loser Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic.
St. Petersburg Open
Seventh-seeded Michael Llodra of France upset top-seeded Marat Safin in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1 as the Russian's game fell apart following a disputed line call in their quarterfinal match Friday at the US$1 million St. Petersburg Open.
Later, fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia downed Julien Benneteau of France, 6-0, 6-1 to set up a semifinal clash with Greg Rusedski of Britain, who beat Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6 (7).
In Saturday's semifinals, Llodra will face Karol Beck of Slovakia, who earlier eliminated Cyril Saulnier of France 6-3, 7-6 (3).
It was an even match between Safin and Llodra until the ninth game when Llodra, down 15-40 on his serve, took the advantage after saving two break points.
Chair umpire Carlos Bernardos was unable to rule on Llodra's next shot and ordered the point to be replayed.
Safin, a two-time champion in the tournament. started arguing, insisting that Llodra's ball was out and that it had left a mark on the court. The point was replayed and Llodra went up 5-4 in the set.
Safin then fell love-40 on his serve to drop his first set in seven matches.
The Russian missed a chance to take an early lead in the second set when, up 40-15 on Llodra's serve, he failed to convert a break point with a passing lob.
Instead of concentrating on his game, Safin continued to argue with Bernardos and Llodra broke him at love in the fourth game and then held serve to go up 4-1.
On his next serve, down 15-40, Safin sent an easy volley out to fall to 1-5 and Llodra served for the match at love to end Safin's seven-match winning streak.
Safin refused to shake hands with Bernardos after the match.
"I think Llodra came up with a good match and some great shots. I also know I was irritated with a few calls and probably lost my temper," Safin said.
Later, Safin, paired with Georgia's Irakli Labadze, lost his doubles quarterfinal match against Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia-Montenegro and Austria's Julian Knowle 6-3, 6-4.
Stockholm Open
Top-seeded Andre Agassi won his third straight-sets match in a row, advancing to the semifinals of the Stockholm Open for the first time on Friday. The American veteran, who lost two previous quarterfinals in 1989 and 1994 at the Globe Arena across town, beat Spain's Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (4), 6-2 on the Royal Tennis Hall's fast Plexipave court in their first meeting.
Tommy Haas, the fourth seed from Germany, also made the final four, defeating Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 7-6 (4), and wild card Michael Ryderstedt advanced when No. 2 seed and fellow Swede Joachim Johansson retired in the second set, suffering from fever. Johansson had won the first set 6-3, but trailed 3-5 in the second.
Ryderstedt will play former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson in an all-Swedish semifinal. Johansson overcame a sprained foot that he sustained in the first set and held on to beat No. 3 seed Andrei Pavel of Romania 7-6 (4), 7-5.
Verdasco, looking to reach his fourth semifinal of the year and the first in a non-clay event, served to near perfection early, not losing a point in his first four service games.
"He's tough for anybody to play, a lefthander with a very big serve," Agassi said. "He can hit in every direction, with spin, flat. It's a difficult serve to read and to return."
Johansson, who didn't drop his serve in his last two tournaments coming into Stockholm, was broken for the first time in this event in game 8 of the second set and then quit. The big-serving Swede hit a personal best 229kph serve earlier in the week and is second on the ATP Tour with an average of 14.8 aces per match this season.
World No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland will miss the upcoming Paris Masters tennis tournament after failing to shake off an injury, organizers said Friday.
Federer tore a muscle in his left thigh earlier this week during a warm up at the Swiss Indoors in Basel. With Federer out, American Andy Roddick went into Friday's draw seeded No.1 for the US$3.1 million indoor tournament at Paris' Bercy stadium, which begins tomorrow.
Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain and Guillermo Coria of Argentina, the runner-up at Roland Garros this year, also pulled out.
Ferrero did not give a reason for his absence, while Coria is still recovering from a shoulder operation, the French tennis federation said on its Web site.
The three absentees will be replaced by Thomas Johansson of Sweden, David Ferrer of Spain and Italian Filippo Volandri. Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia was seeded second and defending champion Tim Henman of Britain seeded third. Spaniard Carlos Moya was No. 4, American Andre Agassi No. 5 and Russian Marat Safin No. 6.
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