September 29, 2007	Saturday	Ramazan 16, 1428

SEOUL, Sept 28: Venus Williams overcame some sloppy tennis and a gammy right leg to advance to the semi-finals of the Korea Open with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Marta Domachowska of Poland on Friday.

Top seed Venus, who had trouble landing her first serves and struggled with her ground strokes, was broken three times by the world No. 190 Domachowska.

The Wimbledon champion, who had her right calf heavily bandaged, was able to feast on her foe’s weak second serve and kept her at bay.

A trainer saw to Williams after the match. She will next face Italy’s Flavia Pennetta in the $145,000 tournament.

Friday’s results (x denotes seeding):

Quarter-finals: Eleni Daniilidou (GRE x5) bt Agnes Szavay (HUN x2) 4-6, 7-5 (Szavay retired); Maria Kirilenko (RUS x4) bt Catalina Castano (COL) 6-3, 6-0; Venus Williams (US x1) bt Marta Domachowska (POL) 6-2, 6-3; Flavia Pennetta (ITA) bt Ayumi Morita (JAP) 6-1, 6-2.

TURSUNOV IN LAST FOUR

BANGKOK: Sixth seed Dmitry Tursunov survived a scare to reach the Thailand Open semi-finals after beating wildcard Wang Yeu-tzuoo 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Friday.

After losing the first set, Tursonov hit back to take the second but his Taiwanese opponent, appearing in only his second career quarter-final, battled hard throughout the decider and frustrated the Russian with some solid returns.

Tursunov will meet Fernando Verdasco in the last four after the Spaniard’s 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory over unseeded Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

In a fiercely-contested match, Mahut took the first set and was on the verge of victory in the second when he broke the eighth-seeded Spaniard at 5-4.

But Verdasco battled back, capitalising on some sloppy returns from the 71-ranked Frenchman to force a tiebreak, where he overpowered Mahut 7-2.

Verdasco returned for the third set full of confidence, sealing victory with some neat backhands and stinging forehand drives from the backcourt.

Benjamin Becker won an all-German battle with unseeded Dominik Meffert 7-6, 7-5 to reach the final four.

Friday’s results:

Quarter-finals: Dmitry Tursunov (RUS x6) bt Wang Yeu-tzuoo (TPE) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco (ESP x8) bt Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 4-6, 7-6 (7/2) 6-4; Benjamin Becker (GER) bt Dominik Meffert (GER) 7-6(2), 7-5.

UNSEEDED SCHUETTLER STUNS HEWITT

MUMBAI, Sept 28: Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt was beaten 6-3, 7-5 by unseeded Rainer Schuettler in the quarter-finals of the Mumbai Open on Friday.

The 31-year-old German, ranked 143rd in the world, outslugged the Australian second seed in humid conditions for a spectacular victory.

After trading serves early in the first set, Schuettler broke the world number 21 in the sixth game to take the first set.

Hewitt came back strongly in the second set to take a 4-1 lead, but Schuettler staged a remarkable victory, serving with precision and returning with gusto.

Schuettler will meet eighth seed Belgian Olivier Rochus in the last-four on Saturday, while French top seed Richard Gasquet will meet fifth seeded compatriot Fabrice Santoro in the other semi-final.

Friday’s results:

Quarter-finals: Rainer Schuettler (Germany) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 6-3, 7-5; Richard Gasquet (France) bt Stefan Koubek (Austria) 6-2, 6-4; Olivier Rochus (Belgium) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 4-1 (Kiefer retired); Fabrice Santoro (France) bt Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 6-3, 6-4.--Agencies