The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Federer topples Karlovic; to face Nieminen in final

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Federer topples Karlovic; to face Nieminen in final

— PHOTO: AFP

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

BASEL: World No. 1 Roger Federer brought down towering Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6(6), 7-6(5) on Saturday to reach the final of his hometown tournament.

Federer, defending the Swiss Indoors title he won last year, will now face unseeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen who defeated 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(4), 6-2.

Giving away 23 cms in height to the 2.08-metre Karlovic, Federer struggled against the Croatian’s formidable serve early in the match and was forced to defend a set point at 4-5 in the opening set.

Federer missed a set point of his own in the subsequent tie-break but was offered a second chance when Karlovic slammed an easy-looking volley into the net.

The Swiss converted the point with a serve and volley to take the tie-break 8-6.

Karlovic continued to pound away at the No.1, dropping just three points in his next four service games.

There was a momentary wobble at 4-5 when Karlovic offered Federer two matchpoints but he saved both with the help of his serve.

The tie-break swung Federer’s way when Karlovic produced his first double fault to surrender an early mini-break.

Federer then made a mistake of his own, hitting a backhand into the net, but was back in command when Karlovic made an almost identical error on the next point.

Offered his third and fourth matchpoints of the encounter, the World No.1 converted the latter thanks to a further backhand mistake by his opponent.

“It’s an almost perfect scenario,” said Federer, as he looked ahead to Sunday’s final. “I’m really happy with how the week has gone after a bit of a scare in the first round.”

Murray in final

British second seed Andy Murray saved a matchpoint and overcame a controversial line call to beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(1) the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open in St. Petersburg on Saturday.

Youzhny served for the match at 5-3 in the decider but the 20-year-old Scot broke back, then saved a matchpoint in the next game to level at 5-5.

With the third seed clearly upset with himself for the lost opportunity, Murray took his chance, clinching victory after two-and-a-half hours when Youzhny double-faulted on matchpoint to throw away the tiebreak 7-1.

“The matchpoint was huge,” said Murray, who will face Fernando Verdasco in Sunday’s final after the Spanish sixth seed overwhelmed Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-3 in the second semifinal.

“When I hit my shot I thought I had lost it because I thought the ball was going out, Youzhny probably thought the same thing too. Then, he started to get nervous and made quite a lot of mistakes in the end,” the World No. 16 said.

World No. 30 Verdasco just had too much experience for the 102nd-ranked Cilic, who was playing in only the second semifinal of his career after upsetting World No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko in the second round.

“It’s true, his ranking was low but he knocked out top seed Davydenko, so I wasn’t taking him easy,” said the Spaniard.

All-French final

Local fans will savour an all-French final Sunday with Sebastien Grosjean facing Marc Gicquel in the ATP tournament in Lyon.

Grosjean, who has slipped from fourth in 2002 to 81st in the world rankings, put his poor season behind him with a straight sets win, 6-1, 6-2, over his double’s partner Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, ranked 65th.

“I have never played four matches in row like that in Lyon. It’s been a long time since I have played in a final and one in France, it’s great,” said a delighted Grosjean.

Gicquel, 79th in the world, had a much tougher match against Colombian Alejandro Falla, ranked 128th, saving two match points before winning 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(7).

Schnyder to face Bartoli

Patty Schnyder defeated third seed Marion Bartoli of France 7-6(5), 6-3 on Saturday to reach the final of the Linz Open.

It will be Schnyder’s second final of the year after San Diego and she will be seeking the 11th title of her career against second-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova, who saved a matchpoint before edging past fifth-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova 2-6 6-2 7-6(3).

“It took a lot out of me as well, that first set,” Schnyder told reporters. “The tie-break was great rallies from both of us but somehow I could just go on and on and she dropped a bit and gave me some easy mistakes which helped.”

The results: At Basel: ATP Swiss Open: Semifinals: Jarkko Nieminen bt Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(4), 6-2; Roger Federer bt Ivo Karlovic 7-6(6), 7-6(5). 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); Fernando Verdasco bt Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-3. Quarterfinals: Marin Cilic bt Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 6-4; Andy Murray bt Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.

At Lyon: ATP Lyon Grand Prix: Semifinals: Marc Gicquel bt Alejandro Falla 4-6, 6-2, 7-6; Grosjean bt Jo-Wilfred Tsonga 6-1, 6-2; Daniela Hantuchova bt Nicole Vaidisova 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3). 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 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

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