Sport - Tennis

Nieminen beats Baghdatis, enters Basel final

— PHOTO: AFP

ON CLOUD NINE: Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen exults after defeating Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis in the Swiss Open semifinals on Saturday.

BASEL (Switzerland): Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen overcame Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 7-6, 6-2 on Saturday to book a place in the ATP Swiss Open final.

Nieminen, who last year became the first Finn to win an ATP title, will now face the winner of the semifinal between World No. 1 Roger Federer and Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

The opening set between Nieminen and Baghdatis was an evenly balanced affair with neither player offering the other a single break point prior to the tie-break.

After an early exchange of mini-breaks, Nieminen grabbed set point with a brilliantly executed stop volley and was then handed the set thanks to a Baghdatis double fault.

The 2006 Australian Open finalist rarely looked in contention after that, dropping his serve twice in the second set.

Nieminen stayed impressively focused, letting just four service points slip to secure his first place in a final this year.

At St. Petersburg, Britain’s Andy Murray kept alive his hopes of reaching the Masters Cup in Shanghai by winning through to the final of the St. Petersburg Open here on Saturday.

Murray beat local hope Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(1) in the 700,000-euro event.

The Scot currently sits 18th in the ATP Masters Cup race but a good showing here and at the Paris Indoor Masters next week could see him book his ticket for Shanghai.

The World No. 16 is chasing his second title of the year following his victory in San Jose, for the second year running — the only event where he has claimed an ATP title.

On Friday, Roger Federer enjoyed a routine 6-3, 6-2 win over Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer to reach the semifinals.

Croatian Ivo Karlovic entered the last four after defeating Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych 6-7, 7-6, 7-6.

Nieminen, the Finnish World number 29, pulled off a 6-3, 7-5 win over Chilean second seed Fernando Gonzalez while Cypriot World No. 24 Baghdatis downed French eighth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 7-6 in the quarterfinals.

Nieminen and Baghdatis will both be looking to improve on disappointing seasons when they square off on Saturday.

The Finnish World No. 29 reached a career-high ranking of 13th last season but has slipped back after making just two previous semi-finals, and losing both, on this year’s tour.

Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open runner-up, made a bright start to the season, winning his second career title in Zagreb in February and reaching the Marseille final two weeks later. He lost another final in Halle in July.

At Lyon, Ivan Ljubicic stumbled in his bid to qualify for the Masters Cup when he lost 7-5, 6-7, 7-5 to Colombian Alejandro Falla in the quarterfinals of the ATP Lyon Grand Prix.

The fifth-seeded Croat bowed out after two hours 31 minutes despite serving 30 aces.

Ljubicic, 14th in the ATP Race rankings, was hoping to improve his position in his attempt to claim one of the eight berths at the end-of-season Masters Cup in Shanghai.

At Linz, Patty Schnyder defeated third seed Marion Bartoli of France 7-6, 6-3 to reach the final of the WTA Linz Open. It will be Schnyder’s second final of the year after San Diego, where she fell to Maria Sharapova, and she will be seeking the 11th title of her career.

Schnyder’s ability to mix up her shots gave the Swiss left-hander a slight advantage over the harder-hitting Bartoli, but she had difficulty maintaining her leads in the first set.

She broke to lead 2-0 but Bartoli hit two good passing shots and the sixth-seeded Schnyder netted a backhand to bring games back on serve in the fifth game. Although Schnyder immediately broke again to lead 4-2, Bartoli once more recovered the break.

Schnyder’s ability to produce the unexpected earned her the only break in the tiebreak when a dropshot gave her a 2-1 lead and she closed out the set with a forehand winner.

Bartoli, who had her left thigh heavily strapped because of a hamstring injury, looked weary when the second set got underway and she barely competed as Schnyder rushed to a 4-0 lead.

Bartoli looked so much in distress that it appeared she might retire at any moment but instead she slowly began to work her way back into the match. From 5-1 she rallied strongly, fighting off three match points on her own serve at 5-1 and breaking Schnyder in the next game.

Schnyder, though, maintained her composure and claimed victory by breaking Bartoli in the next game, forcing a backhand error.

Bartoli was tested by Ukraine’s Julia Vakulenko 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals on Friday. Fifth seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova claimed a minor upset over fourth seed Dinara Safina of Russia, winning 6-3, 7-6.

The results: At Lyon: ATP Lyon Grand Prix: Semifinals: Marc Gicquel bt Alejandro Falla 4-6, 6-2, 7-6. Quarterfinals: Marc Gicquel bt Diego Hartfield 7-5, 6-3; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-2; Alejandro Falla bt Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-5; Sebastien Grosjean bt Julien Benneteau 7-6(6), 2-6, 7-6(4).

At Basel: ATP Swiss Open: Semifinals: Jarkko Nieminen bt Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(4), 6-2. Quarterfinals: Ivo Karlovic bt Tomas Berdych 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 7-6(13); Roger Federer bt Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-2; Marcos Baghdatis bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 7-6(5).

At St. Petersburg: ATP St. Petersburg Open: Semifinals: Andy Murray bt Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(1). Quarterfinals: Marin Cilic bt Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 6-4; Andy Murray bt Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4. S

At Linz: WTA Generali Ladies Open: Semifinals: Patty Schnyder bt Marion Bartoli 7-6(5), 6-3.Quarterfinals: Nicole Vaidisova bt Dinara Safina 6-3, 7-6(7); Marion Bartoli bt Julia Vakulenko 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. — Agencies

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu