Top-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy is on course for a successful defense of the Palermo Open title after a straight-sets win over Nuria Llagostera Vives in the quarter-finals.
Pennetta beat the Spaniard 6-4, 6-2 and will now meet eighth-seed Julia Goerges, who beat Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-4.
In the other semi-final, wildcard Romina Oprandi will face fifth-seeded Kaia Kanepi.
PHOTO: REUTERS
■SWEDISH OPEN
AP, BASTAD, SWEDEN
Robin Soderling battled through to the semi-finals of the Swedish Open on Friday with a hard-fought victory over Italy’s Andreas Seppi on a day when four of the top five-seeds won.
Top-seeded Soderling prevailed in three sets 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) at the clay-court tournament, but was given a scare by the 76th-ranked Seppi.
■MERCEDES OPEN
AP, STUTTGART, GERMANY
Fifth-seeded Albert Montanes of Spain has upset second-seeded Juergen Melzer 6-4, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Mercedes Cup.
The No. 30 Montanes, aiming for his second clay-court title of the year, needed just 57 minutes to beat Melzer on Friday for his first victory over the Austrian in seven years.
In yesterday’s semi-finals, Montanes was to face compatriot and fourth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero after Ferrero beat Simon Greul of Germany 6-3, 7-5 to remain on course for his third ATP title of the year.
■PRAGUE OPEN
AP, PRAGUE
Patty Schnyder of Switzerland rallied past Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of the Prague Open.
Schnyder, a former top-10 player, said she was surprised by her hard-hitting opponent and was “a bit lucky to win” after a slow start.
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James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
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