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CINCINNATI (Ohio), Aug 18: Top seed Roger Federer struggled to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Spaniard Nicolas Almagro on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.
The world No 1 was unusually erratic as he dropped his first set of the week before recovering his poise to set up a clash with Lleyton Hewitt.
Federer, looking for his 50th career title, broke in the sixth game but immediately dropped his serve before breaking for a second time to take the opening set.
Almagro, appearing in his sixth quarter-final of the year, broke serve in the eighth game of the second set to level the match before an early break in the decider was enough to take Federer through.
Hewitt, twice a runner-up here, produced a commanding performance to beat fellow former world No 1 Carlos Moya 6-2, 6-4 and reach his fourth semi-final of the season.
World No 19 Moya had defeated fourth seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia earlier this week but the Spaniard made too many unforced errors against Hewitt.
Federer has won his previous 10 meetings with Hewitt, including a straight-sets victory last week in Montreal.
The second semi-final will be between fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and American ninth seed James Blake.
Davydenko withstood a late fightback from 16th seed David Ferrer to beat the Spaniard 6-2, 6-4.
The Russian led 4-0 in the second set before Ferrer cut the deficit to 4-3 but Davydenko held on for victory.
Blake had to battle hard to beat his compatriot Sam Querrey 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to reach only his second Masters Series semi-final.
Friday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Quarter-finals: 5-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat 16-David Ferrer (Spain) 6-2, 6-4; 9-James Blake (US) beat Sam Querrey (US) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Carlos Moya (Spain) 6-2, 6-4.
TORONTO: World No 1 Justine Henin and second seed Jelena Jankovic refused to be blown off course by recording quarter-final wins on a wild and windy day at the Toronto Cup on Friday.
With just two matches under her belt since a semi-final loss at Wimbledon, Henin appeared frustrated by the gusting winds that buffeted players all day at the Rexall tennis centre.
But the battling Belgian stood her ground and weathered an early challenge from sixth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova to post a 7-6, 6-3 win and secure a semi-final date on Saturday with Chinese qualifier Yan Zi.
Ranked 169 in the world, Yan continued her Cinderella run advancing when Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France retired trailing 6-2, 3-0 with the flu to become the third Chinese player to reach the semi-final of a WTA Tier I event.
Jankovic closed in on her fifth title of the season, taming Virginie Razzano of France 7-5, 6-2 to set up a final-four showdown with another Frenchwoman, Tatiana Golovin, who toppled third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
The 13th meeting between Henin and Petrova ended in familiar fashion with the Belgian posting her 11th win, improving her record in quarter-finals this season to a 11-0.
A finalist her last two visits to Canada and winner of the title in 2003, Henin got her match off to an unsteady start as Petrova raced to a 3-0 lead.
But the world No 1 slowly came to grips with the blustery conditions, forcing the opener to a tie-break which she took 7-4.
Jankovic, who played earlier in the day but also had problems with the wind, seized command of a tight opening set when she broke Razzano to go up 6-5 then swept through the next five games to take the first set and 4-0 lead in the second.
Playing her first event since a quarter-final defeat by eventual champion Venus Williams at Wimbledon, Kuznetsova looked in control after taking the opening set.
The Russian, however, only held her serve once in the final two sets, Golovin sweeping nine of the next 10 games.
Friday’s results:
Quarter-finals: 1-Justine Henin (Belgium) beat 6-Nadia Petrova (Russia) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; Yan Zi (China) beat 7-Marion Bartoli (France) 6-2 3-0 – Bartoli retired; 2-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Virginie Razzano (France) 7-5, 6-2; 12-Tatiana Golovin (France) beat 3-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.—Reuters
