08 November 2004	Monday	24 Ramazan 1425

PARIS, Nov 7: Russian sixth seed Marat Safin overcame an injury scare to beat Argentina's 13th seed Guillermo Canas 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) on Saturday to move just one match away from winning his third Paris Masters title.

The 24-year-old Russian, the champion in 2000 and 2002, wrapped up his semifinal in 1hr 35min and will now face the Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek who won the battle of the qualifiers beating Max Mirnyi of Belarus 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 in 2hr 12min to reach his first ever final.

As well as chasing his third victory here - a feat only matched by Boris Becker - Safin will also be hunting his third title of the season after winning in Beijing and the Madrid Masters.

Canas, who has fought his way to number 14 in the world after an injury-ravaged 2003 sent his ranking crashing to 274, proved a brave opponent but Safin said his positive approach in the tie-break paid off.

But it didn't effect him too much as he raced through the first set in 30 minutes with breaks in the fourth and eighth games only allowing Canas four points on his service.

In a tense second set tie-break, Safin prevailed but not without controversy. At 5-5, a Safin forehand was called long by the line judge but good by umpire Romano Grillotti who ordered the point to be replayed.

Canas fumed but TV replays showed the ball was in and the umpire had been correct.

The Argentinian then claimed the next point, which gave Safin match point, should also have been called out and his concentration was completely shattered when the Russian hit a decisive backhand volley to win the tie.

Mirnyi, the conqueror of top seed Andy Roddick, carved out the only break in the first set in the second game but Stepanek dominated the second set tie-break.

Stepanek then grabbed the crucial breakthrough in the third game of the final set to lead 2-1 and then took the tie with another in a long line of crisp volleys.

Semifinals results: Marat Safin (RUS x6) bt Guillermo Canas (ARG x13) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5); Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Max Mirnyi (BLR) 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.

MAURESMO IN FINAL

PHILADELPHIA (Pennsylvania): Amelie Mauresmo reached the final of the 585,000-dollar WTA indoor tournament on Saturday without lifting a racquet when Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova withdrew.

In the title match , Mauresmo will face sixth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, who beat seventh-seeded countrywoman Nadia Petrova 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).-AFP