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| August 12, 2007 | Sunday | Rajab 27, 1428 |
Federer, Nadal move closer to great showdown
MONTREAL, Aug 11: World No 1 Roger Federer and No 2 Rafael Nadal took a step closer to another title showdown as they reached the semi-finals of the Montreal Masters on Friday.
Wimbledon champion Federer continued his seemingly inexorable march through the draw as he swept aside Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4.
But for the second night in a row, Nadal had to come from behind, beating unseeded Canadian Frank Dancevic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Federer will play Czech Radek Stepanek, who upset fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 7-5, while Nadal will meet third seed Novak Djokovic, who ousted No 5 Andy Roddick 7-6, 6-4.
Holder Federer was close to his fluent best, hitting 13 aces on his way to victory over former world No 1 Hewitt.
Nadal had to cope with an inspired opponent in Dancevic, the world No 91, and a buoyant home crowd before reaching the last four.
Dancevic smashed a succession of winners as he stunned Nadal in the first set.
But after the Canadian missed a series of chances for an early break in the second set, the match slowly swung in Nadal's favour and in the end, he was a comfortable winner.
World No 60 Stepanek broke Davydenko in the fifth game and held the advantage to take the opening set.
The Czech broke again in the fifth game of the second but faltered when serving for the match at 5-4, allowing Davydenko to level.
The respite was only brief for the Russian as he was broken in the next game and Stepanek served out for victory, finishing the match with his ninth ace.
Friday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Quarter-finals: 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat Frank Dancevic (Canada) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; 3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat 5-Andy Roddick (US) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 6-3, 6-4; Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) beat 4-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-4, 7-5.
LOS ANGELES: Top seed Maria Sharapova won her seventh straight match on US soil by defeating holder Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Los Angeles Classic on Friday.
Sharapova will meet fourth seed Nadia Petrova, who advanced with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Virginie Razzano of France.
Second seed Jelena Jankovic outlasted Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 to earn herself a semi-final match-up with fellow Serbian and third seed Ana Ivanovic, who beat Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-4, 6-4.
After looking like she was on her way to a simple victory when leading 4-1 in the second set and holding a break point, Sharapova was pushed to close out the match.
Dementieva rifled a forehand down the line on break point and eventually held to 4-2. She then immediately broke Sharapova at love to 4-3 on a backhand crosscourt winner.
But after Dementieva held to 4-4, Sharapova regained her stride, holding easily to 5-4 and in the final game, winning a marathon rally where Dementieva missed a drop shot winner, and then nearly smashed the umpire's chair with her racket in frustration.
Ivanovic survived an up and down contest against Kirilenko, going down 1-4 in the first set, before taking the next seven games and then struggling to close it out.
Friday’s results:
Quarter-finals: 1-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat 9-Elena Dementieva (Russia) 6-3, 6-4; 2-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2; 3-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-4, 6-4; 4-Nadia Petrova (Russia) beat Virginie Razzano (France) 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-1.—Reuters
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