Date:15/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/15/stories/2006091502351900.htm

Sport - Tennis

Bhupathi-Ancic in last four

Beijing: Mahesh Bhupathi and his Croatian partner Mario Ancic made it to the semifinals of the China Open, upsetting the third seeded American pair of Eric Butorac and Travis Parrott in a tight contest here on Thursday.

The Indo-Croat duo came through 7-6, 3-6, 10-6 to make it to the last four.

They will take on Kristian Pless of Denmark and Thailand's Danai Udomchoke for a place in the final of the hardcourt event.

Ljubicic wins

In singles play, top seed Ivan Ljubicic beat American Kevin Kim 6-3, 6-4 to take his place in the quarterfinals.

A break for a 5-3 lead was enough to take the first set while another early in the second put him on the path to a last eight appointment with Lee Hyung-Taik. He sealed the match when 89th ranked Kim went long with a forehand after an hour and seven minutes.

Eighth seeded Lee was pushed to his limits by Germany's Michael Berrer in the opening match of the day on Centre Court, finally securing his passage to the last eight with a 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 win.

Schnyder advances

Second-seeded Patty Schnyder rolled past Elise Tamaela of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the Wismilak International tennis tournament in Bali, Indonesia.

American No. 3 Lindsay Davenport booked her spot in the final eight with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Japan's Akiko Morigami.

French No. 8 Severine Bremond ground out a 6-3, 7-6(6) win over hometown favorite Sandy Gumulya of Indonesia to set up a quarterfinals matchup with top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Russian Kuznetsova cruised into the final eight with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Japan's Erika Takao on Wednesday.

The results (all second round): At Beijing (ATP China Open): Hyung Taik Lee bt Michael Berrer 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(4); Ivan Ljubicic bt Kevin Kim 6-3, 6-4.

At Bali (WTA Wismilak International): Olga Poutchkova bt Andreja Klepac 7-5, 6-3; Severine Bremond bt Sandy Gumulya 6-3, 7-6(6); Patty Schnyder bt Elise Tamaela 6-4, 6-1; Lindsay Davenport bt Akiko Morigami 6-2, 6-3.

At Bucharest (ATP Romanian Open): Filippo Volandri bt Stefan Koubek 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; Paul-Henri Mathieu bt Victor Crivoi 6-1, 6-1.