Andy Roddick was forced to dig deep to beat his unfancied opponent in his China Open semi-final yesterday as women’s top seed Jelena Jankovic continued her march toward the title.
The big-serving US player battled to a 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1 win against 137-ranked Bjorn Phau while Jankovic staved off a spirited fightback from Vera Zvonareva on the women’s side.
Germany’s Phau — ranked 129 places below Roddick — came into this tournament without a single win on the ATP tour this season but frustrated the second seed with a battling performance.
PHOTO: AP
Roddick hurled his racket to the ground in frustration after losing the second set tie-break but broke Phau’s serve three times in the decider. In the final, Roddick will meet Israel’s Dudi Sela, who reached his first ATP final with a 6-3, 6-3 win over seventh seed and Wimbledon semi-finalist Rainer Schuettler.
Sela, who earlier dumped world No. 5 David Ferrer and sixth seed Tommy Robredo from the Beijing tournament, was quickly into his stride, breaking the error-prone Schuettler three times in the opening set.
The 23-year-old kept up his intensity in the second set, forcing what proved to be a decisive break in the sixth game.
PHOTO: AP
He said reaching an ATP final had been a “dream” since breaking into the top 100 of the world rankings.
“Before the match I was very nervous because I wanted to be in the final,” Sela said, adding that he now had “nothing to lose.”
In the women’s draw, Jankovic, last year’s losing finalist here, beat Zvonareva 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
The Serbian world No. 2 took the first set against Zvonareva, but powerful hitting from the Russian brought her level.
The players swapped breaks at the beginning of the deciding set but Jankovic forced a further break and sealed the match, which lasted two hours, 22 minutes.
“The first set I played quite well and I was dominating but then in the second set I lost my energy and let my opponent come on top of me. She was the one dictating the points,” Jankovic said.
“It was not easy. Mentally and physically it was quite hard but at the end I managed to stay calm and finish the match in my favor,” she said.
The late evening match in Beijing was to feature China’s Zheng Jie against Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova.
In reaching the last four of the women’s US$600,000 competition, Zheng has matched the best ever performance by a Chinese player here and her run includes victories over world No. 4 Ana Ivanovic and 10th-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng will be looking for a lift from the home fans after she admitted they helped her in her win over Ivanovic, whom she beat on her way to the last four on the grass in London.
■KOREA OPEN
AP, SEOUL
Top-seeded Maria Kirilenko reached the Korea Open final yesterday after rallying for a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over No. 3 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.
Kirilenko will meet Samantha Stosur in yesterday’s final after the Australian eased past Jill Craybas of the US 6-0, 6-1.
Russia’s Kirilenko needed two hours, 18 minutes for her victory over Kanepi, which gives her a chance to claim her third title this year after winning at Estoril and Barcelona.
Kirilenko squandered a 5-1 lead before winning a close first set.
Kanepi broke serve in the fourth game of the second set and held on to draw the match level.
Kanepi started the third set strongly, breaking serve in the first game before conceding several unforced errors that let Kirilenko regain her composure and hold on for the match.
“Today was so difficult. I was down 2-0 in the third set, and every game was really difficult,” said Kirilenko, who lost to Venus Williams in the final here last year. “I’m really happy to get through all of this.”
Stosur combined a powerful serve and well-timed returns to beat Craybas in just 45 minutes.
“I played very well. I didn’t really do anything wrong, and just never let Jill get into it,” said Stosur, who is after her first WTA singles title. “I’m very, very happy with the way I played.”
Stosur and Kirilenko have played each other three times, with Stosur winning twice.
■THAI OPEN
AFP, BANGKOK
Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will face off today in a repeat of their Australian Open final seven months ago after both advanced in at the Thailand Open.
Djokovic struggled through a 53-minute first set against third seed Tomas Berdych before the floodgates opened for a 7-5, 6-1 semi-final defeat of the Czech player.
Tsonga, the No. 2, took just 52 minutes to set up the grand slam re-match, stamping his authority on fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils with a 6-0, 6-3 win.
“This will be my chance to take revenge,” said Tsonga, who lost to the world No. 3 Serb Djokovic in four sets in Melbourne. “This is a totally different match from then. I’m confident and I like my chances.”
Djokovic was equally enthusiastic about the rematch.
“It’s great to meet Jo again after that final. It will be very interesting to play him,” Djokovic said. “It’s our second match and our second in a final — anything can happen. I don’t see myself as a big favorite, Jo has been playing fantastic tennis, serving and moving well. He’s very motivated.”
Djokovic and Berdych duelled throughout the first set until the final game, when a Djokovic return on set point tipped over the net cord to land dead on the Czech’s side.
The Serb then took quick advantage, going up a break in the third and producing a 3-0 lead before Berdych could react, completing victory in just under 90 minutes after a double-break in the second set.
“I broke him twice in the second due to his bad service games,” Djokovic said. “But it felt like I woke up from a dream in that second set. “I was really sleepy the last two days and especially in the first set.”
Djokovic will be competing for his fourth title of the season and first since Rome in May. He is into his 16th ATP singles final (standing 10-5) and boasts a 58-13 record this year. The title showdown at the Impact arena cements the return of the 20th-ranked Tsonga after a three-month absence due to knee surgery this year.
The youngster played for his only other ATP trophy during his grand slam breakthrough.
Tsonga shot out of the blocks in his first ATP meeting with Monfils, lifting the first five games in a quarter of an hour and the set after 21 quick minutes.
A relieved Monfils fired a ball into the stands after finally getting a game on the scoreboard for 1-1 in the second set.
From that point, Monfils, ranked 30th, steadied as he tried to close the gap on his friend and training partner. But the effort went for naught, with Tsonga taking a 4-2 lead and serving out the win three games later on the first of three match points.
“I’m very happy with my game and my form,” Tsonga said. “I never expected to play so well and get such a big win against Gael. To be in the final is like a dream for me.”
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS