Marching towards another record
World No. 4 Andy Murray wasted six match points and overcame a knee injury to beat Tomas Berdych 6-3 7-5 in the Dubai Tennis Championships quarterfinals on Thursday, while Roger Federer also made it through to the last four.
World No. 4 Andy Murray wasted six match points and overcame a knee injury to beat Tomas Berdych 6-3 7-5 in the Dubai Tennis Championships quarterfinals on Thursday, while Roger Federer also made it through to the last four.
"I had a problem with it (the knee) since Brisbane and it's come and gone," Murray told reporters after a match played in searing desert heat.
World No. 3 Federer will play either Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro or France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Friday's other semi-final after defeating Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4 as dusk set in.
Federer had won all their 11 previous meetings stretching back 12 years and Youzhny, 29, never looked like ending his losing streak after slumping to 3-1 down in the first set. He kept himself on course for a record fifth title here.
Federer, 30, saw out the first set with a fierce serve the ailing Youzhny could only club long.
The Swiss has yet to drop a set in the opening three rounds in Dubai. "The surface speed is helping and I have a good focus this week," he said.
Bhupathi-Bopanna advance; Paes out
Dubai: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna progressed to the quarterfinals of the ATP Dubai Open but Chennai Open winners Leander Paes and Janko Tipsarevic were ousted in the first round.
While Bhupathi and Bopanna beat Lukas Dlouhy and Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4 7-5, Paes and Tipsarevic lost 4-6, 5-7 to second seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Teacu.
Radwanska makes quarters
KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska won two matches Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of a rain-interrupted BMW Malaysian Open.
The Pole beat Akgul Amanmuradova, who she was originally scheduled to play Tuesday, 6-2, 6-4 in her first match of the day before easing by Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 6-4. While results went Radwanska's way, it was the end of the road for fourth seed Jarmila Gajdosova and seventh seed Jelena Dokic.
Top-seeded Isner moves up
Delray beach, Florida: Having acclimated to the Florida humidity, top seed John Isner captured a 6-3, 6-4 win over fellow American Ryan Sweeting to move into the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.
Isner's quarterfinal opponent will be Australian Bernard Tomic, who had a 6-1, 7-5 win over American qualifier Tim Smyczek. Qualifier Marinko Matosevic made it two Australians in the last eight by upsetting sixth-seeded Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.