BANGKOK, Sept 26: Third seed Carlos Moya was beaten by Finn Jarkko Nieminen and local favourite Paradorn Srichaphan lost to sixth seed Ivan Ljubicic in the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open on Friday.

Top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero was stretched to a third set tiebreak before advancing but eighth seeded American Taylor Dent had it easy after Frenchman Nicolas Thomann retired with a foot injury after dropping the first set 6-3.

Moya was beaten 6-7 6-4 6-4 in a two hour 12 minute battle that remained in the balance until the final ball, and fellow Spaniard Ferrero’s two hour four minute struggle could also have swung either way until he overcame Gregory Carraz of France 6-4 3-6 7-6.

Fourth seeded Paradorn had to fight back tears after falling to the firepower of Ljubicic, whose 22 aces played a large part in his 4-6 7-6 7-5 victory.

Nieminen looked the more committed player for much of the match, with his groundstrokes, double-handed backhand and stinging service returns always keeping his opponent under pressure.

The Finnish left-hander dropped the opening set despite giving up just three points on serve before the tiebreak, and holding a set point at 6-5 which Moya saved by forcing a backhand error.

Nieminen responded by taking the second set and breaking again in the first game of the third.

Moya broke back for 3-3 to set up a dramatic finale which came when Nieminen forced a backhand error to break for 5-4 on his fourth break point before safely serving out for the match.

Results

Quarterfinals

Taylor Dent (USA) bt Nicolas Thomann (FRA) 6-3 retired; Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) bt Carlos Moya (SPA) 6-7, (5/7), 6-4, 6-4; Juan Carlos Ferrero (SPA) bt Gregory Carraz (FRA) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2); Ivan Ljubicic (CRO x6) bt Paradorn Srichaphan (THA) 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5

Philippoussis IN SEMIS

SHANGHAI: Australian Mark Philippoussis battled his way to victory on Friday, defeating Guillermo Canas of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), to earn a place in the semifinals of the 380,000-dollar ATP tournament in Shanghai.