Top-ranked Roger Federer dropped a set for the second time in three matches but prevailed over Serbian teenager Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 on Thursday to reach the semi-finals at the Dubai Open.
Federer, who on Monday broke Jimmy Connors' record with his 161st consecutive week atop the ATP rankings, committed 52 unforced errors and needed more than two hours to subdue Djokovic on the Aviation Club courts.
Also on Thursday, Russia's Mikhail Youzhny upset No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal 7-6 (5), 6-3, capitalizing on an apparent incorrect call by the Hawkeye electronic line-judging system to overwhelm the rattled Spaniard.
PHOTO: AP
He advanced to the semi-finals along with Germany's Tommy Haas and Robin Soderling of Sweden.
Fifth-seeded Haas, winner last week in Memphis, extended his winning streak to 11 matches as he overwhelmed Belgium's Olivier Rochus 6-0, 6-2, while Soderling held off 2002 champion Fabrice Santoro to win 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-0.
Federer, who also dropped as set to Denmark's Kristian Pless in his first-round match on Monday, next faces Haas, having beaten the ninth-ranked German in seven of their nine meetings.
"I definitely think my forehand is not working like the way it usually works," Federer said.
"Some half-court balls, I usually put them away in my sleep. But I can't quite do that here for some reason, so that's a bit of a worry," he said.
"But as the opponents get tougher, my game also rises to the occasion. That's what I expect again against Haas. I have played him a few times in my career. The guy, when he is playing well, he can play really, really well. He has definitely been on a roll lately and I am really happy to see him back playing after his two years of injuries," he said.
Federer appeared to have won in straight sets, but Djokovic won a line challenge on match-point and prevailed.
"Maybe I should have closed it out earlier and not be in that position," Federer said. "I can see the headlines already, kind of going like `Oh God, he missed match point with the Hawkeye,' and the whole thing. This wasn't exactly our best match, but I think it was more of a battle on the day, kind of who manages to play better. It was me in the end, so I am happy about that."
Nadal never seemed to recover after Youzhny won a challenge to reverse an out call and take the first-set tiebreak.
The Russian then broke Nadal to open the second.
"I lost the first set in the last point," Nadal said. "I saw and even the referee saw, the ball was outside. There was a mark on the court. The ball was definitely out, but when he challenged, it was in. So it was really unbelievable."
Even Youzhny admitted he was shocked that his challenge was upheld by Hawkeye.
"[It] looked like it was a little bit out. I saw the mark was a little out, but it was such an important point, I decided to call for the Hawkeye. Even I was shocked it was called in, because, to be honest, I thought it was out," he said.
Henin survives scare
Top seed Justine Henin survived a late scare against Swiss fifth seed Patty Schnyder to win 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 and set up a Qatar Open semi-final clash with Serbian Jelena Jankovic on Thursday.
Jankovic defeated Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3, 6-3 to join Daniel Hantuchova and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semis after their respective wins over Martina Hingis and Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
Hantuchova had earlier come back from a set and 1-4 down against Hingis to stun the Swiss in the following two sets and set up a clash with Kuznetsova of Russia.
Henin, meanwhile, will consider herself lucky to get past Schnyder after three net cords in the deciding set went in her favor at crucial times. After Schnyder secured a break in the third game to lead 2-1, Henin hit back with a break of her own with the help of a lucky net cord at deuce.
Although the Swiss broke again to lead 3-2 and then held serve to stretch the lead to 4-2, the Belgian held her serve in the next game.
The next two games also went with serve and at 5-4, Schnyder, serving for the match, held match point at 40-30 before slamming the ball into the net much to her frustration. Henin took one more point and held advantage with a net cord again coming to her aid as she leveled at 5-5.
The Belgian showed renewed purpose in the next game, and finished off the match with the ball again clipping the net and dropping tantalisingly in as the Swiss left-hander watched in dismay from the far end of the court.
Henin said she had expected a tough match, but admitted she rode her luck in the tight third set.
Blake returns
Top-seeded James Blake was given a quarter-final spot in the Tennis Channel Open on Thursday night, hours after the ATP Tour initially ruled that he had been eliminated during round-robin play.
Blake led Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 3-1 when the Argentine player retired because of respiratory distress. In letting Blake back into the tournament, the tour ruled that he would have won his round-robin group if del Potro hadn't retired. The tour also said it would review the format in three weeks at a board meeting in Miami.
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