19 September 2004	Sunday	03 Shaban 1425

BEIJING, Sept 18: Russian giant Marat Safin crushed Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-2 6-4 on Saturday to advance to the final of the China Open, where he will meet compatriot Mikhail Youzhny.

Youzhny upset Thai sixth seed Paradorn Srichaphan 6-4 6-4 in the earlier semifinal and both he and Safin will be bidding to win their first title in two years on Sunday.

Safin broke for 3-2 in the first set with a blistering forehand pass and gained a double break in the seventh game.

The Finn dropped serve again early in the second set and Safin wrapped up a comfortable victory with a crunching overhead volley after just 65 minutes.

Semifinals results: Marat Safin bt Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-2; Mikhail Youzhny bt Paradorn Srichaphan 6-4, 6-4

Kuznetsova in final

BALI: US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova battled back to beat Nadia Petrova 6-7 6-1 6-2 on Saturday and reach the final of the Wismilak International, where she will play unseeded German Marlene Weingartner.

Kuznetsova recovered from dropping the opening set to dominate her fourth seeded compatriot, while Weingartner also rallied to overcome Italy's Maria Elena Camerin 2-6 6-3 6-3 and reach her first career final.

In the first set of her semifinal, Russian Kuznetsova struggled to find her rhythm and allowed Petrova to build a 4-1 lead.

After holding two break points in the first game, dropping her serve to fall behind 3-1 and failing to convert a break point in the next game, Kuznetsova finally broke back on her eighth break point and held to level at 5-5.

Petrova continued to pressure with some solid serving and consistent groundstrokes and although Kuznetsova held off two set points at 6-5, Petrova swept through the tiebreak 7-1.

That seemed to energise the lethargic Kuznetsova, who sharpened her game and allowed Petrova just four points as she built a 5-0 lead in the second set.

The final set continued in the same vein, with Kuznetsova sweeping to a 4-0 lead and finding the range on her serve with 10 aces.

In the second semifinal, the Weingartner struggled with her serve from the start and hit seven double-faults.

After conceding the first set, the 24-year-old began to strike her forehand more effectively, winning her a break for 1-0 and again for 5-2.

In the third set, Camerin twice earned the first break but Weingartner refused to fold, and a third break for the German allowed her to serve out for a place in her first career final.

Semifinals results: Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Nadia Petrova 6-7 (2/7), 6-1,6-2; Marlene Weingartner bt Maria Elena Camerin 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Delray Beach

DELRAY BEACH (Florida): Collated results on Friday from the fifth day of the US$380,000 ATP International Championship:

Quarterfinals: Mario Ancic bt Kenneth Carlsen 6-2, 7-5; Ricardo Mello bt Jerome Golmard 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-3; Vince Spadea bt Hugo Armando 6-3, 1-6, 6-4; Jeff Salzenstein) bt Greg Rusedski 6-4, 7-6 (9/7)

Romanian Open

BUCHAREST: Results of semifinal matches at the 351,000 euro Romanian Open ATP tournament on Saturday:

Igor Andreev Florian Mayer 2-6 6-1 6-4; Jose Acasuso bt Filippo Volandri 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.-Agencies