The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Safina stuns Venus

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Safina stuns Venus

ROME: World No. 1 Dinara Safina will meet Svetlana Kuznetsova in the WTA Rome claycourt International final after an epic three-set victory over Venus Williams on Friday.

Safina came back from a set down to beat the five-time Wimbledon champion 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4 in a match that lasted more than three hours.

Her Russian compatriot Kuznetsova had a far easier semifinal as she stormed past Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-4.

It is the second week running the two Russians will play in a final after Kuznetsova beat Safina in the Stuttgart final 6-4, 6-3 last Sunday.

Top seed Safina started slowly against the fourth seed and for the third straight match she dropped the opening set.

Hewitt out

At Munich, fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych rallied to outlast former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) for a place in the semifinals of the BMW Open.

Mikhail Youzhny upset seventh-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to make the semifinals.

for his best result on the ATP Tour since January 2008.

At Belgrade, second-seeded Ivo Karlovic advanced to the quarterfinals of the Serbia Open on Thursday after beating Brian Dabul of Argentina 6-4, 7-6(5).

The results: At Rome (WTA Italian Open): Semifinals: Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-4; Dinara Safina bt Venus Williams 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4. Quarterfinals: Venus Williams bt Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2.

At Estoril (Estoril Open): Women: semifinals: Ekaterina Makarova bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-1; Yanina Wickmayer bt Shahar Peer 3-0 (rtd.).

Men: Quarterfinals: Nikolay Davydenko bt Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-3; Paul Capdeville bt Oscar Hernandez 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; James Blake bt Florent Serra 6-4, 6-1. Second round: Gilles Simon bt Fabio Fognini 6-0, 7-5; Florent Serra bt Juan Monaco 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

At Munich (BMW Open): Quarterfinals: Mikhail Youzhny bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; Tomas Berdych bt Lleyton Hewitt 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4); Daniel Brands bt Potito Starace 6-4, 1-1 (retd.). Second round: Lleyton Hewitt bt Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-4.

At Belgrade (Serbia Open): Quarterfinals: Andreas Seppi bt Marcos Daniel 6-4, 7-5; Ivo Karlovic bt Flavio Cipolla 6-3, 6-3; Lukasz Kubot bt Kristof Vliegen 7-6(6), 6-3. Second round: Ivo Karlovic bt Brian Dabul 6-4, 7-6(5). — Agencies

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