May 07, 2007	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 19, 1428

LISBON, May 6: Paul-Henri Mathieu quit after 17 minutes with a right leg injury on Saturday to hand good friend and fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet a place in the final of the Estoril Open.

The 3-1 result puts fifth seed Gasquet into a Sunday showdown with the form player of the moment, Serb Novak Djokovic.

The third seed surged into his fourth final of a breakthrough season on Saturday with a 7-5, 6-1 defeat of second seed Tommy Robredo.

Djokovic found a reserve of fitness after taking more than two and a half hours to win the day before, improving his career record over the 25-year-old Spaniard to 3-1.

In the women's event, former Australian and US Open junior champion Viktoria Azarenka will face off in her first WTA-level final against a German 11 years her senior.

Belarus-born Azarenka, 17, who trains in the desert heat of Scottsdale, upset third-seeded former champion Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-0.

German Greta Arn, ranked 176th to the 68th of Azarenka, booked her place in the title match over Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives 7-6 (7-0), 6-2.

Saturday’s results:

Semi-finals:

Men’s singles: 5-Richard Gasquet (France) beat Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) 3-1 – Mathieu retired; 3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat 2-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 7-5, 6-1.

Women’s singles: Greta Arn (Germany) beat Nuria Llagostera (Spain) 7-6 (7-0), 6-2; Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat 3-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-0.

WARSAW CUP

WARSAW: Unseeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 7-6 on Saturday to set up a final against world number one Justine Henin in the Warsaw Cup.

Russian third seed Kuznetsova never looked comfortable against her aggressive opponent, winning just one of six break points and finishing the match with 46 unforced errors.

Henin withstood a strong challenge from Serbian Jelena Jankovic to win 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 and reach her fourth final of the year.

The Belgian, winner in Dubai and Doha, could have claimed victory more easily after sweeping to a 4-0 lead in the first set and then holding points to lead 2-0 in the second.

Instead, fourth seed Jankovic held, broke to lead 2-1 and went on to secure the set with a further break for 5-2.

Henin again let her advantage slip in the deciding set. She went 3-1 up but Jankovic broke her in the next game, and when Henin held a break point to lead 5-3 she dumped a weak return into the net.

As the set seemed destined for a tiebreak, Jankovic made two forehand errors to drop her serve at 5-4.

Results:

Semi-finals: Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat 3-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4); 1-Justine Henin (Belgium) beat 4-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

MUNICH OPEN

MUNICH: Third seed Mikhail Youzhny beat Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday to set up a final meeting with home favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Munich Open.

The Russian was too strong on the clay for second seed Berdych, sealing victory in one hour 14 minutes.

German Kohlschreiber went through to his first ATP final with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over fourth seed Marcos Baghdatis.

The 23-year-old Kohlschreiber overwhelmed his Cypriot opponent in the first set.

From 3-1 down in the second, the unseeded German reeled off five games to seal semi-final victory in one hour 20 minutes.

If Kohlschreiber wins he will be the first German to take the title since Michael Stich in 2004.

To do so he must find a way of disrupting Youzhny's rhythm from the back of the court after the Russian kept Berdych on the defensive throughout their match.

Results:

Semi-finals: 3-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat 2-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-3; Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) beat 4-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 6-2, 6-3.—Agencies