The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Marat Safin stumbles in semifinals again; falls to Blake

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Marat Safin stumbles in semifinals again; falls to Blake

BANGKOK: James Blake denied Marat Safin a place in his first final in more than a year as he staged a comeback to pip the Russian 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) at the Thailand Open here on Saturday.

Safin, competing in his third semifinal of his comeback season, drew level at two-all with Blake, who also beat him last week in a dead rubber at the Davis Cup semifinal tie in Moscow won by Russia.

"When he's on his best he can give everyone fits. I had to weather the storm. I've had a few more matches than he has this season," Blake said.

Safin, who has lifted his ranking from 104 during the summer to its current 55th, said he had no luck in the injury struggle lasting nearly two hours.

"I was up a break in the third and it slipped away, he broke back and then the tie-break was a disaster. I was so close to being in the final. This is the third time. I wish I could break through that barrier," he said.

Earlier, top seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia was unfazed by a right shoulder injury on Friday as he beat Robby Ginepri of the United States 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals.

The World No. 3 had his trainer treat his right shoulder several times in the first and second sets, but still wielded powerful serves and masterful groundstrokes to win the match in 1 hour and 57 minutes. "I'm not tired, I'm fit. I can go like this forever," he said exuberantly after the match.

Paradorn Srichaphan clawed back from a 2-5 deficit in the third set to beat Tim Henman of Britain 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(4) in front of a partisan crowd.

"I have no idea how I won it as I was a lot behind Tim in the final set. I just hung in there and tried my best," the Thai star said.

Ai Sugiyama of Japan and Greece's Eleni Daniilidou routed their rivals to book a showdown in Sunday's final of the Korea Open.

Sugiyama thrashed Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-0, 6-3 while Daniilidou dominated third seed Marion Bartoli 6-1, 6-0.

Ruano Pascual was slow on her feet and had none of the backhand accuracy that had worn down Sania Mirza in a three-hour epic. "In the first set she couldn't get her rhythm. She made many mistakes," Sugiyama said.

Ruano Pascual got back into the match by winning the first two games of the second set, but the experienced 31-year-old Sugiyama covered the court well, encouraged by a number of her compatriots in the crowd.

Daniilidou used an unerring backhand to control her match from start to finish in a punishing rout of Bartoli.

Teenage qualifier Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland upset top seed Elena Dementieva of Russia 7-5, 6-2 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Fortis Championships in Luxembourg.

The 17-year-old will face Francesca Schiavone, who beat Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-1 for a spot in the semifinals of the $600,000 hardcourt event.

Schiavone was the only seed to survive the quarterfinals. Czech Kveta Peschke beat fourth seed Dinara Safina of Russia 6-4, 6-3.

Peschke will play Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko, who beat France's Nathalie Dechy 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, in the second semifinal. Dementieva put herself on the defensive early, serving five of her seven double faults in the first set alone, and Radwanska completed the victory in one hour, 39 minutes for the biggest upset of the tournament.

The results:

At Bangkok (ATP Thailand Open): Semifinals: James Blake bt Marat Safin 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3); Ivan Ljubicic bt Paradorn Srichaphan 6-3, 6-2. Quarterfinals: Ivan Ljubicic bt Robby Ginepri 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Paradorn Srichaphan bt Tim Henman 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(4).

At Palermo (ATP Internazionali di Sicilia): Quarterfinals: Nicolas Almagro bt Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-2, 6-2; Filippo Volandri bt Albert Montanes 6-4, 6-2; Nicolas Lapentti bt Gilles Simon 6-0, 6-1; Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo bt Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4.

At Seoul (WTA Hansol Korea Open): Semifinals: Eleni Daniilidou bt Marion Bartoli 6-1, 6-0; Ai Sugiyama bt Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-0, 6-3.

At Luxembourg (WTA Fortis Championships): Quarterfinals: Agnieszka Radwanska bt Elena Dementieva 7-5, 6-2; Francesca Schiavone bt Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-1; Kveta Peschke bt Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3; Alona Bondarenko bt Nathalie Dechy 5-7, 6-4, 6-0.

At Guangzhou (WTA International Open): Semifinals: Anabel Medina Garrigues bt Tzipora Obziler 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Quarterfinals: Jelena Jankovic bt Alicia Molik 6-3, 7-5; Anna Chakvetadze bt Olga Poutchkova 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-1; Anabel Medina Garrigues bt Chen Yanchong 1-6, 6-0, 6-2. — Agencies

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