Janko Tipsarevic saved Serbian pride yesterday as he beat Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-3 to set up a Malaysian Open final against Marcos Baghdatis.
Cypriot Baghdatis, who was runner-up to Roger Federer in the 2006 Australian Open final, had earlier defeated Serbia’s second seed Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-1, leaving Tipsarevic with a mission on court at the Putra Stadium
Tipsarevic has played — and beaten — Nishikori five times this season on hardcourt, clay, grass and now indoors.
Photo: AFP
The Japanese No. 1 made a run at another upset scenario in the wake of his semi-final defeat of top-seed Nicolas Almagro, but Tiposarevic was having none of it.
The Serb closed out the victory in just less than two hours as he saved all six break points he faced to nullify the Nishikori attack.
The winner improved to 43-20 on the season as he enters his third final this season after Delray Beach and Eastbourne, both of which he lost.
Tipsarevic said he will have to be at the top of his game to claim the title against Baghdatis, who has shown a return to form.
“Both Marcos and I are playing good tennis,” Tipsarevic said. “I know I have to play like I did today or better to have a chance to win the final tomorrow. Marcos is an experienced player — he will not give me the final, I will have to take it from him and play aggressively. I’m here to win one more match — if not then it’s still been a good week overall.”
Baghdatis is turning around a disappointing season in which he has dropped from 20th to 60th, reaching his first final since Moscow a year ago.
“It feels great to be in another final, but there’s still one match to go,” he said. “Today was a strange first set from both of us, struggling with our serves, but I stayed calm and focused on what I had to and played the important points better in the first set. I’m happy with the way I fought, and to win without spending too much time on court.”
Baghdatis has put in a patchy effort since January, but he has not lost a set this week in the Malaysian capital on his way to eliminating two seeds, No. 6 Alex Bogomolov and No. 4 Jurgen Melzer.
Baghdatis, winner of four career titles, took just less than 90 minutes for his semi-final victory, advancing to the title match on the first of two match points.
The winner saved five of the seven break points he faced while cracking the Troicki serve six times to take a 2-1 lead in their series.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS