Tomas Berdych finished off Nicolas Mahut of France with his 14th ace in a 6-3, 6-4 victory on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Open Sud de France.
The top seeded Czech outplayed Mahut in the first set, hitting 18 winners and making only two unforced errors.
Mahut fought back in the second, but double faulted to give the 2010 Wimbledon finalist a 4-3 lead.
Berdych will next face Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who edged fourth-seeded Richard Gasquet 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Kohlschreiber hit 18 aces, taking a 3-0 lead in the final set to play his second semi-final this season after reaching the last four of the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, last month.
Meanwhile, second seeded Gilles Simon outlasted French wild card Guillaume Rufin 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, and will meet compatriot and defending champion Gael Monfils, who cruised past Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 6-3.
Simon won the all-French match when a backhand from Rufin sailed long.
Rufin was let down by his serve in the final set, double faulting five times and landing only 38 percent of his first attempts.
Third seeded Monfils broke serve twice to win the first set when Nieminen sent a backhand volley into the net.
Monfils did not face any break points and clinched victory when Nieminen netted a backhand return.
ZAGREB INDOORS
AP, ZAGREB, CROATIA
Lukas Lacko of Slovakia beat seventh seeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Zagreb Indoors on Friday.
Lacko, who earlier ousted second-seeded Alex Bogomolov Jr of Russia, will now face Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who advanced after defeating defending champion Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-4, 7-5.
Sixth seeded Baghdatis ousted fourth seeded Dodig with little trouble, leaving host country Croatia without representatives in the semi-finals or finals for the first time since 2006.
Germany’s Michael Berrer also advanced after defeating Austria’s Jurgen Melzer 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Berrer — a finalist in 2010 and last year — rallied after failing to convert five break points in the first set.
Berrer will play against third seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, who defeated another, eighth seeded Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (12/10), 3-6, 7-6 (8/6).
VINA DEL MAR VTR OPEN
AP, VINA DEL MAR, CHILE
Top seeded Juan Monaco and No. 2 Juan Ignacio Chela both overcame one-set deficits to win their quarter-finals at the Vina Del Mar VTR Open on Friday, giving Argentine players three of the four semi-final berths.
Monaco of Argentina defeated fifth seeded Albert Montanes of Spain 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, while compatriot Chela downed Joao Souza of Brazil 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1.
Monaco’s victory sets up a semi-final against Jeremy Chardy of France, who beat Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) in the clay-court event.
Chela’s semi-final opponent will be countryman Carlos Berlocq, who defeated another Argentine, Federico Delbonis, 6-3, 6-4.
Inter on Sunday were given a letoff when they snatched a late 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan, while league leaders SSC Napoli were held by a late goal at AS Roma. Reigning champions Inter remain three points behind Napoli, who looked to be heading five clear as they led in Rome until Angelino volleyed in a stunning leveler in the first minute of stoppage-time. Angelino’s strike gave even more significance to Stefan de Vrij’s last-gasp equalizer at the San Siro. The defender forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knockdown just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnders’ opener would be enough for Milan. “I can
The Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets on Saturday did not disappoint in a thrilling midseason matchup in front of a fired-up sellout crowd of more than 18,500 fans. The top two teams in the NHL delivered with a combined nine goals, including the 877th of Alex Ovechkin’s career to put him 18 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. That tied the score, the Jets pulled it out in overtime and just about everyone involved got their money’s worth out of the 5-4 game. “We knew how we were both sitting in the standings and both having real good years,” Winnipeg coach Scott
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
RSS