The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Dementieva in semifinals

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Dementieva in semifinals

MOSCOW: Defending champion Elena Dementieva beat Nadia Petrova 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6) on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup.

Petrova went 4-3 up in the all-Russian match with a break in the seventh game of the first set, but Dementieva won three consecutive games to take the set. Dementieva was leading 4-1 in the second set but Petrova came back strongly and won five consecutive games to level the match at one set each.

In the third, Dementieva again took a 4-1 lead but Petrova rallied back to 4-4 and then both players held their serves to force a tiebreaker which Dementieva won on her third match point.

Tough going

“It was not an easy match,” Dementieva said. “There were many missed chances for me today.”

Another Russian, Vera Zvonareva also advanced, beating Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 7-5, 6-4.

Seventh-seeded Zvonareva saved five break points in the tenth game of the first set before breaking Cibulkova in the next game to win the set. Two breaks early in the second set secured her a berth in her first semifinal after five quarterfinal appearances in her home town event.

In the men’s quarterfinals, veteran Fabrice Santoro won the first set 6-3 and was 2-0 up in the second when his fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, seeded fourth, retired because of illness.

“The first set was my best performance here so far,” Santoro said. “I was serving well while he (Mathieu) was obviously out of form and could not return at full strength.”

Santoro, who will turn 36 in December, won his only title this season in Newport in July. He will be playing in his third semifinal this season.

Mischa Zverev of Germany rallied from 5-1 down in the third set to advance to his first career ATP Tour semifinal with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Viktor Troicki of Serbia.

Nishikori moves up

In Stockholm, Japan’s teenage tennis sensation Kei Nishikori dismissed his own illness worries to advance into the semifinals of the Stockholm Open as ailing opponent Mario Ancic withdrew with fever from their quarterfinal match.

Third seed Jarkko Nieminen continued his quest to try to go one better after losing two finals, with the Finn stamping his authority on Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 6-1, 6-4.

Nishikori said that he had considered retiring himself before the match after carrying a cold, sore throat and knee pain all week.

“But I didn’t, I just wanted to play the match,” he said. “I’m sick too. But I’m in the semifinals, that’s big.”

The results:

At Moscow: Kremlin Cup: Men: Quarterfinals: Mischa Zverev bt Viktor Troicki 6-4, 3-6, 7-5; Fabrice Santoro bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 2-0, retd.;

Women: Quarterfinals: Elena Dementieva bt Nadia Petrova 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6); Vera Zvonareva bt Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-4.

At Stockholm: Stockholm Open: Quarterfinals: Kei Nishikori bt Mario Ancic, walkover; Jarkko Nieminen bt Oscar Hernandez 6-1, 6-4. Second round: Mario Ancic bt Steve Darcis 7-6(4), 6-4; Kei Nishikori bt Dominik Hrbaty 6-1, 1-6, 7-5; Albert Montanes bt George Bastl 1-6, 6-3, 6-2; Jarkko Nieminen bt Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2; David Nalbandian bt Joachim Johansson 6-3, 6-2; Robin Soderling bt Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-3.

At Vienna: Bank Austria Trophy: Second round: Juergen Melzer bt Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6(4), 6-3; Gael Monfils bt Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3; Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Juan Martin Del Potro, walkover; Feliciano Lopez bt Santiago Giraldo 7-6(5), 6-3. — Agencies

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