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| January 12, 2007 | Friday | Zilhaj 21, 1427 |
Moya fights back to reach Sydney semi-finals
SYDNEY, Jan 11: Spaniard Carlos Moya fought back from a break down in an exhilarating final set to beat Marcos Baghdatis 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3) to advance to the semi-finals of the Sydney International here on Thursday.
Moya, ranked 44, looked headed for defeat when he trailed 1-2 but broke back in the 10th game to force a tiebreaker and win an enthralling 79-minute deciding set.
The former world No.1 will now face French sixth seed Richard Gasquet in Friday’s semi-finals. Gasquet took more than two hours to beat compatriot Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4, 6-7 (1/7), 6-0 in a late-night quarter-final.
American world No.4 James Blake will play unseeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer in Friday's other semi-final.
The 11th-ranked Baghdatis had a lengthy time-out to have an injured tendon behind his left ankle treated early in the final set before playing on.
Last year's Australian Open finalist looked in trouble when he jammed the ankle going for a wide forehand in the second game of the third set and took almost 10 minutes to be assessed and treated before continuing.
He fought off a break point on his serve and then broke Moya's next service game with some exquisite shot-making, but Moya dug in and hit some great forehands and a delicate lob just inside the baseline for the break back. Moya took command of the tiebreaker to power into the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Blake says he's getting that winning feeling approaching next week's Australian Open, after he moved to within one match of defending his Sydney title. The American third seed only stayed under the hot sun for 49 minutes in blasting his way to a 6-1, 6-4 quarter-final win over Russian Evgeny Korolev, a cousin of tennis glamour girl Anna Kournikova.
Melzer breezed past Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych, 6-2, 6-4.
Blake beat Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev on the way to winning in Sydney last year, one of five ATP titles he claimed as he climbed 20 ranking places to finish 2006 at four.
Melzer, ranked 40 and unseeded in Melbourne, adapted his game plan to put good depth on his ground strokes against Berdych and it worked with spectacular success.
Meanwhile, Kim Clijsters survived a ferocious fight-back from China's Li Na on Thursday to book her place in the Sydney International final against in-form Serb Jelena Jankovic.
Third seed Clijsters had to draw on all her big-match experience and reserves of energy in the scorching heat to record a 6-1 1-6 7-5 victory, joining Jankovic in Friday's final at Sydney's Olympic tennis centre.
Jankovic produced an inspired performance in beating Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach her second final in a week, despite struggling with lower back pain for most of her match against the eighth seed.
Results:
Men's singles (Quarter-finals)
James Blake (USA) bt Evgeny Korolev (RUS) 6-1, 6-4; Jurgen Melzer (AUT) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE) 6-2, 6-4; Carlos Moya (ESP) bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3); Richard Gasquet (FRA) bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 6-4, 6-7 (1/7), 6-0.
Women's singles (Semi-finals)
Kim Clijsters (BEL) bt Li Na (CHN) 6-1, 1-6, 7-5; Jelena Jankovic (SRB) bt Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.—Agencies
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