The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Federer, Nalbandian in semifinals

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Federer, Nalbandian in semifinals

— PHOTO: AP

FOCUSSED: Roger Federer in action at the ATP Swiss Indoors in Basel.

BASEL: Roger Federer, David Nalbandian and Juan Martin Del Porto reached the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors tennis on Friday. The world No. 2 defeated Italian Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-3 to set up a semifinal clash with Feliciano Lopez.

Federer had earlier on Thursday stuttered into the quarterfinals after an unexpectedly tough 7-6, 7-6 second round win over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.

Federer, looking strangely out of sorts throughout the match, even handed his opponent two set points but they proved to be the last with the World No. 2 pulling himself back from the brink with an ace and a forehand winner.

Second seed Nalbandian is fresh from a loss to his talented 20-year-old compatriot last week in the Madrid Masters third round.

Del Potro, 20, and ranked ninth in the World to Nalbandian’s eight, beat Russian Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5, while Nalbandian accounted for German qualifier Benjamin Becker 7-6(4), 6-4.

At St. Petersburg, third-seeded Fernando Verdasco beat German veteran Rainer Schuettler 7-5, 6-2 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open. In other quarterfinals, Victor Hanescu of Romania defeated Russian qualifier Michail Elgin 6-1, 6-4.In his third semifinal this season, Hanescu will take on Andrey Golubev, a qualifier from Kazakhstan, who rallied to beat German qualifier Mischa Zverev 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Roddick loses

At Lyon, Swede Robin Soderling needed 20 aces and two tie-breaks to down top seed Andy Roddick 7-6, 7-6 and reach the semifinals of the ATP Lyon tournament on Friday.

At Linz, Vera Zvonareva and Agnieszka Radwanska had straight-sets victories on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Generali Ladies.

Second-seeded Zvonareva defeated No. 8 Alize Cornet of France 7-5, 6-1.

Hantuchova upset

Eighth-seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania upset third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-6(2), 6-2 Friday to reach the quarterfinals of the Fortis Championships.

The results: At Basel (ATP-Swiss Indoors): Quarterfinals: David Nalbandian bt Benjamin Becker 7-6(4), 6-4; Juan Martin del Potro bt Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5; Feliciano Lopez bt James Blake 6-4, 7-6(4); Roger Federer bt Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-3. Second round: Roger Federer bt Jarkko Nieminen 7-6(6), 7-6(1); Juan Martin Del Potro bt Stephane Bohli 6-3, 6-3.

At Lyon ATP Lyon Grand Prix: Quarterfinals: Gilles Simon bt Josselin Ouanna 6-3, 7-5; Robin Soderling bt Andy Roddick 7-6(5), 7-6(5). Second round: Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-1; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Fabrice Santoro 6-2, 5-7, 6-3; Gilles Simon bt Andreas Seppi 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-4; Steve Darcis bt Richard Gasquet 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5).

At St. Petersburg (ATP St. Petersburg): Quarterfinals: Victor Hanescu bt Michail Elgin 6-1, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco bt Rainer Schuettler 7-5, 6-2. Second round: Mischa Zverev bt Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 6-4; Victor Hanescu bt Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 7-6(7); Andrey Golubev bt Marat Safin 6-4, 6-2; Janko Tipsarevic bt Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 7-6(3).

At Luxembourg (ATA Luxembourg Championship): Quarterfinals: Sorana Cirstea bt Daniela Hantuchova 7-6(2), 6-2; Li Na bt Iveta Benesova 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

At Linz (WTA Linz Open): Quarterfinals: Agnieszka Radwanska bt Nadia Petrova 6-3, 6-2; Vera Zvonareva bt Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-1. Second round: Alona Bondarenko bt Patty Schnyder 6-2, 2-6, 6-1; Nadia Petrova bt Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 7-6(7). — Agencies

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