August 20, 2007	Monday	Sha’aban 6, 1428

CINCINNATI (Ohio), Aug 19: World No 1 Roger Federer battled back from a break down in the final set to fend off a rejuvenated Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 on Saturday to reach the final of the Cincinnati Masters.

Australian Hewitt saved three match points, including one in the second-set tiebreak, but Federer roared back from 3-2 down in the third set to set up a clash with American ninth seed James Blake, who beat fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-4 6-2.Federer, who is now one win away from bagging his 50th singles title, had won the last 10 meetings between the two and despite a misfiring forehand in the early stages, the Swiss looked on course for a straightforward win when he eased through the first set.

But Hewitt, appearing in his fourth semi-final of the year, battled back brilliantly, retrieving everything and returning the Federer serve with interest.

The Swiss stepped it up in the second set, losing just five points on his serve as they headed into a tiebreak, though Hewitt had to save a break point in the third and 11th games.

Hewitt then raced to a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak but Federer hit back and forced a match point at 6-5 only for the Australian to save it with a deft drop volley.

Riding the momentum, the former world number one, who is set to rise from 20 to 16 in the rankings after this week, clinched the tiebreak 9-7 and then broke Federer to lead 3-2 in the third set.

The Swiss broke straight back and then missed four chances to break in the eighth game and two games later, Hewitt saved two more match points.

In the tiebreak, though, a couple of loose errors put Federer in charge and he cruised through it 7-1 to take his place in the final.

Blake went into his match with Davydenko having won all of their five previous meetings but the Russian jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

Blake then reeled-off four straight games, Davydenko broke back and levelled at 4-4 before the American broke again in the 10th game to take the set.

Blake then romped through the second set to set up a clash with Federer, who has beaten him in all six of their previous matches.

DREAM FINAL IN TORONTO

TORONTO: Women’s world No 1 Justine Henin brought Yan Zi’s Cinderella run to an end with a 6-3, 6-0 win at the Toronto Cup on Saturday to set up a dream final with second seed Jelena Jankovic.

While Henin raced into her seventh final of the season in just 71 minutes, the third ranked Jankovic needed over two hours on a chilled centre court to tame scrappy Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

A Henin and Jankovic final may lack the pizzazz of a Maria Sharapova-Serena Williams showdown but their records this season are second to none, with the battling Belgian claiming five titles and the Serbian four.

Jankovic looked headed for an easy win over the 19th ranked Golovin, leading 5-2 and serving for the opening set.

But Golovin hit back with three breaks sweeping through the next five games to take a 1-0 lead.

The Serb went 4-2 up in the second set but this time held the advantage to level the match.

Back in command, Jankovic secured the early break again in the third set to go up 3-1 and kept her French opponent out of the match.

Playing her first event since a semi-final loss at Wimbledon, Henin wasted little time in stamping her authority on her semi-final, breaking Yan at the first opportunity.

Yan, however, was not intimidated by the six-times grand slam winner and immediately broke back.

The two players traded breaks again but with the opening set level at 3-3, Henin’s class surfaced and she overwhelmed Yan by sweeping the next nine games.

Yan, whose 169 world ranking was so low that she was an alternate in the Toronto qualifying draw, was the revelation of the tournament after producing a string of upsets.

The 22-year-old doubles specialist claimed several big-name scalps, including defending champion and world number four Ana Ivanovic and Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, to become the only the third Chinese player to reach the semi-final of a WTA top tier event.—Reuters