Top seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia battled from a set down to beat Romania’s eighth seed Victor Hanescu in their St Petersburg Open quarter-final clash on Friday.
Youzhny, the 2004 champion, won 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) in 2 hours, 46 minutes to record his fourth win over Hanescu in their seventh meeting.
Hanescu and Youzhny went toe-to-toe in the opening set and in the ensuing tiebreak it was the 29-year-old Romanian veteran who was slightly more accurate to clinch the lead in 50 minutes.
PHOTO: AFP
In the second set, Youzhny broke early for a comfortable 3-0 lead, which he kept to level at 1-1 after 1 hour, 35 minutes on court.
In the deciding set, the opponents again needed the tiebreaker to separate them, which Youzhny won to make his sixth semi-final of the year.
Youzhny will now face compatriot Dmitry Tursunov, who ousted Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
Meanwhile, Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan upset Serbia’s third seed Janko Tipsarevic, winning their first meeting 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in 2 hours, 38 minutes to clinch a place in the last four.
Kukushkin, 22, broke in the 12th game to take the opening set in 56 minutes, but Tipsarevic, currently 46th in the world, added power and precision in the second set to break twice to level the contest.
In the third set, the 26-year-old Tipsarevic seized the lead with a break in the sixth game, but Kukushkin moved up a gear and took four consecutive games to win the set and match on his first match-point.
“It was a very tough match, but the luck was on my side today,” Kukushkin said.
In the semi-final, Kukushkin will take on Ukraine’s Ilya Marchenko, who saw off Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in 1 hour, 52 minutes.
BANK AUSTRIA TROPHY
AFP, VIENNA
The prospect of an all-Austrian final at the Bank Austria Trophy swam into focus on Friday after home favorites Jurgen Melzer and Andreas Haider-Maurer both advanced to the semi-finals.
It marked the first time in 20 years that two Austrians had gone so far at the event.
Defending champion Melzer advanced without firing a shot, as his German opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber was forced to withdraw with a strained right adductor before their match at the Stadthalle could begin.
“I really felt it yesterday in doubles, as well as earlier in the week,” the German said. “I’m really disappointed as I had wanted to carry on here. The doctors told me not to play. I didn’t have a choice.”
Melzer had been beaten in all three of his previous matches against Kohlschreiber, who is currently ranked 35th in the world.
Third-seeded Nicolas Almagro advanced with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win over Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela and will next take on Melzer. The Spaniard won their only previous meeting in Madrid on clay in the spring.
“This is something no-one wants to happen, but I’m relieved to get to the semis,” Melzer said. “I’m at home, so that should help against Almagro.”
The fairytale continued for lucky loser Haider-Maurer as the world No. 157 stunned second seed Marin Cilic 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.
“It’s a dream come true,” the underdog said. “I didn’t think I would have a chance.”
Cilic, winner of titles in Chennai and Zagreb in the first two months of the year, has seen his form dive alarmingly since he reached the Munich final on clay in May.
The Croatian, ranked 14th in the world, has not been to another semi-final since losing to David Nalbandian in Washington nearly three months ago.
Cilic, who lost to Melzer in last year’s final in Vienna, now has a 5-3 record in quarter-final matches this season.
Haider-Maurer has produced the best week of a modest career and will play in an ATP semi-final for the first time, having won just two top-level matches prior to this breakthrough week.
His next adversary will be Germany’s Michael Berrer, who stormed to a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 comeback win over fourth seed Marcos Baghdatis, a beaten finalist in Moscow last week.
OPEN SUD DE FRANCE
REUTERS, MONTPELLIER, FRANCE
Top seed Nikolay Davydenko slumped to a 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4) defeat by Spain’s Albert Montanes in the quarter-finals of the Open Sud de France on Friday.
Montanes will face Ivan Ljubicic for a place in the final after the Croatian fourth seed beat Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6).
The other semi-final will be an all-French meeting between second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat compatriot Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-7 (0/7), 6-3, and Gael Monfils, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over John Isner of the US.
Russian Davydenko hit 15 aces in a 2 hour, 20 minute tussle in southern France, but Montanes stood firm on his service games after dropping the opening set, winning the two tiebreaks 7/3 and 7/4.
Davydenko, the world No. 11, is still hoping to snatch one of the three remaining spots for the season-ending Masters.
Tsonga, the world No. 13, got off to the best start against Simon, but a lapse in concentration in the second set tiebreak allowed his compatriot to level, but Tsonga hit powerful forehands to break decisively in the sixth game of the decider.
His semi-final opponent, third seeded Monfils, resisted Isner’s fightback to book his place in the next round.
“John is really tough to play. I surprised myself, staying calm throughout,” Monfils told reporters.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
Shin Oebori coaches the Fukagawa Hawks youth baseball team in Tokyo, and he is very aware how Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani touches his players. “With Ohtani, the kids think everything is possible,” Oebori said, wrapping up practice yesterday on an all-dirt field set alongside a local Buddhist temple, below an elevated highway, and in the shadow of tall apartment blocks in central Tokyo. “Nothing is impossible with him. A dream is not a dream,” Oebori said, stepping out of the fenced practice field that keeps balls from landing on the temple grounds. None of the players hitting sponge-soft baseball has reached
Italian defender Marco Curto has been banned for 10 matches for racially abusing South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan while playing for Como 1907 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a pre-season friendly in July. Curto, who is on loan from Como to Serie B club Cesena, would serve half of the punishment immediately with the other half suspended for two years. “The player Marco Curto was found responsible for discriminatory behavior and sanctioned with a 10-match suspension,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “The player is ordered to render community services and undergo training and education with an organization approved by FIFA.” Wolves said the club would
CRICKET Azhar’s 59 leads Stallions Aashir Azhar’s blazing half-century guided the Taipei Stallions to victory over Taipei Super 11 in the Taiwan Premier League’s Group A at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei yesterday. The Stallions were 102-3 and into the 12th over of 20 when Azhar came to the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in the 25 deliveries he faced to push his side to 171-5. Gokul Kumar was the star with the ball for Super 11, taking 3-17. In the reply, Deepak Vishnu outscored Azhar with 77 from 50 balls, but nobody else got past 20 as
RSS