BEIJING: Israel’s Dudi Sela played giant-killer again yesterday, upsetting sixth seed Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-4 6-1 to sweep to his first ATP Tour semi-final at the $524,000 China Open.
The 23-year-old Sela, who knocked out top seed David Ferrer of Spain on Thursday, overcame a nervous start to steamroll the world number 16 in an impressive display of controlled aggression and clean hitting.
“I felt very confident. I knew that I had nothing to lose today ... I knew that at this moment I am playing very good and that I can win, and it paid off,” a beaming Sela told reporters.
After dropping his serve early to trail 3-1 in the first set, the 92nd-ranked Israeli began attacking Robredo’s serve with gusto, firing passing shots and hitting deep into the Spaniard’s back-hand to force errors.
The tactic proved effective, a rattled Robredo surrendering the second set and winning only 54% of his first serves.
“I knew that I had to attack him, because if not, he was going to move me around,” said Sela, who admitted to riding on a wave of confidence since helping Israel beat Peru to stay in the Davis Cup World Group on Sunday.
Sela faces a semi-final clash with seventh seed Rainer Schuettler of Germany who upset French world number 12 Richard Gasquet 6-4 3-6 6-4.
Third seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile lost to Germany’s Bjorn Phau 6-3 4-6 6-3. Big-serving American Andy Roddick eased past former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero to make the semi-finals.
After struggling with his serve early, the former U.S. Open champion smashed his racket in frustration on the way to losing the first set 2-6.
"That racket didn't want to be here any more, so I let it out. I was pretty upset and pretty fed up with the way I was playing," Roddick told reporters.
The release seemed to help, however, as the 26-year-old quickly found his groove in the second set, eventually finishing with 23 aces in the 2-6 6-3 6-4 win over the unseeded Spaniard
Swiss Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal of Spain, Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Briton Andy Murray have already qualified. (Reuters)
Zheng dumps Ivanovic out of China Open
BEIJING: Former world number one Ana Ivanovic crashed out of the China Open yesterday, beaten by home favourite Zheng Jie in a marathon quarter-final clash.
Other winners in Beijing included women’s top seed Jelena Jankovic and men’s number two seed Andy Roddick, but defending champion Fernando Gonzalez was beaten by a player ranked 137 in the world.
Ivanovic, seeded two here, lost 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4 to her Wimbledon conqueror in a clash lasting almost three hours.
The French Open champion had fought her way back into the match, taking the second set despite an error-strewn display but lost the decider to a tenacious Zheng, ranked 30.
“She was playing really well. My first serve wasn’t going as well as I’d hoped for. I think that was the biggest difference,” Ivanovic said, adding she had not been aggressive enough with her returns.
Zheng, 25, shocked Ivanovic at Wimbledon, beating the then top seed in the third round before going on to reach the semi-finals.
World number four Ivanovic has had a poor recent run, including her early exit in London and a second round defeat at the US Open. She has also been hit by injuries.
Zheng’s win means she has matched the best-ever performance by a Chinese player at this tournament. She goes on to meet Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semi-final.
She said she had been lifted by the home crowd during her match, “especially when the situation was bad.”
“It’s not far to win the tournament. I hope that I can win but I’m going to focus on the next match because all the other three players are great players,” she added. (Reuters)
Results: Men Quarter-finals: Dudi Sela (ISR) bt Tommy Robredo (ESP x6) 6-4, 6-1; Rainer Schuettler (GER x7) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA x4) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Bjorn Phau (GER) bt Fernando Gonzalez (CHI x3) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Andy Roddick (USA x2) bt Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) 2-6, 6-3,
6-4 ; Women: Quarter-finals: Zheng Jie (CHN) bt Ana Ivanovic (SRB x2) 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4 ; Vera Zvonareva (RUS x5) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 6-0, 6-1; Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x4) bt beat Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 6-2, 6-4 ; Jelena Jankovic (SRB x1) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x7) 7-5, 6-1. |
