Page 39 - min.soc 9 jan,2016

SPORTS A21
No Love: Djokovic to play Nadal in final of Qatar Open
SANDRA HARWITT
Associated Press
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Novak
Djokovic and Rafael Nadal
will break their 23-23 head-
to-head record when they
meet for the 47th time in
the Qatar Open final Satur-
day.
Top-seeded Djokovic
beat third-seeded Tomas
Defending champion Federer into Brisbane semifinals
JOHN PYE
AP Sports Writer
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) —
Roger Federer overcame a
lingering sickness to hold off His serve in the first set was
Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-7 (4),
6-4 on Friday and take his
title defense into the semi-
finals at the Brisbane Inter-
national.
Another former winner, the
unseeded Victoria Azaren-
ka, moved into the wom-
en’s final by seeing off U.S.
qualifier Samantha Craw-
ford 6-0, 6-3.
After the men’s semifinals
on Saturday, the women’s
final will feature two-time
Australian Open cham-
pion Azarenka against No.
4-seeded Angelique Ker-
ber, who beat Carla Suarez
Navarro 6-2, 6-3.
Azarenka won Brisbane in
2009, and hasn’t won any
title since 2013. After two
seasons interrupted by in-
juries, she’s regaining form
while many of the leading
women are dealing with
injuries in the run-up to the
Australian Open which
starts in 10 days.
“I’m feeling pretty good
right now,” she said, “I’m
not saying anything be-
sides that.”
Federer is approaching the
tournament from a differ-
ent angle. He delayed his
opening match at the Aus-
tralian Open warmup until
the fifth day because of a
Two-time defending champ Wawrinka in Chennai semis
CHENNAI, India (AP) — Stan
Wawrinka advanced to the
semifinals of the Chennai
Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win
over fifth-seeded Guillermo
Garcia-Lopez of Spain Fri-
day. The top-seeded Swiss,
a two-time defending
champion, fired 14 aces
Berdych 6-3, 7-6 (3) to
reach his 16th consecutive
final Friday.
The last time the Serbian
failed to reach a tourna-
ment final was when he lost
in the quarterfinals in last
year’s Qatar Open.
“I’m very proud of the
achievement and this par-
ticular stat, but I try not to
flu-like illness, and was play- Roger Federer of Switzerland smiles and waves after winning his
ing Dimitrov in the quarter-
finals on less than 24 hours
rest.
almost flawless, dropping
just two points, and he ap-
peared to be on course
with break-point chances
for another straight-set vic-
tory over the young Bulgar-
ian — sometimes likened to
him because of their similar
styles — before Dimitrov ral-
lied.
After wasting a chance to
serve out the second set
in a nervous 10th game,
Dimitrov dominated the tie-
breaker and forced a de-
cider.
Federer, after showing signs
of fatigue in the second,
took a quick break before
the third, and then went on
a roll to set up three match
points in the ninth game.
Again, Dimitrov rallied,
winning five consecutive
points and forcing Federer
to serve it out — which the
17-time major winner duly
did.
“I’m not going to tell you
too much, but it was tough
in a way,” Federer said of
his illness. “Body is not quite
ready, so it’s good to get
through it without any is-
sues.”
By holding off Dimitrov, who
is 10 years his junior, Feder-
er set up a meeting with
22-year-old Dominic Thiem,
to set up a clash with third-
seeded Frenchman Benoit
Paire. Paire also served 14
aces as he defeated Thom-
as Fabbiano of Italy 6-4, 7-5.
Wawrinka broke serve in
the third game but allowed
his opponent to break
back in the eighth with four
think about what would
happen if I would lose
and not get to the final,”
Djokovic said. “I try to keep
an optimistic approach
to every match and every
tournament.”
“This is exactly how I want
to start the year, getting to
the final in the first tourna- great,” Nadal said. “The
ment of the year, against
quarterfinal game against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-7,
6-4 during the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Bris-
bane, Australia, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016.
the youngest player in the
top 20.
Thiem beat third-seeded
Marin Cilic 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4
and said he was hoping to
play Federer.
“It’s for every young player
an amazing experience
to play with probably the
greatest of all time,” Thiem
unforced errors. Wawrinka
again went a break up in
the ninth before wrapping
up the first set.
In the second set, Wawrinka
broke in the seventh game
and went on to complete
his seventh win in 10 match-
es against Garcia-Lopez.
Saturday 9 January 2016
one of my biggest rivals.” you feel yourself that every
Nadal advanced to his time you go on court you
career 99th final after de- are competitive against
feating Illya Marchenko of everybody and you have
Ukraine 6-3, 6-4. your chances.”
“I’m happy with the victory, Djokovic won all four of
being in the first final of the their 2015 meetings without
season in the first official dropping a set. The last time
tournament is something Nadal defeated Djokovic
was the 2014 French Open
most important thing is if final.q
semifinal appearances at
Brisbane with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
win, his first over a top-10
player on home soil.
In Auckland, New Zealand,
(AP Photo/Tertius Pickard) Julia Goerges reached her
sixth WTA final and her first
said. “You can learn so in four years when she beat
many things from him.” qualifier Tamira Paszek 6-4,
The other semifinal will fea- 6-2 in the ASB Classic semi-
ture 2015 finalist Milos Raon- finals.
ic a 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. Sloane Stephens was lead-
78-ranked Lucas Pouille, ing 5-2 in the first set of the
against Bernard Tomic. other semifinal against
Tomic ended 2014 U.S. third-seeded Caroline Woz-
Open finalist Kei Nishiko- niacki when rain halted
ri’s streak of three straight play, forcing it to be post-
poned to Saturday.
At the Hopman Cup in
Perth, Australia Green
sealed its spot in the final
against Ukraine by defeat-
ing France 2-1.
Nick Kyrgios gave the
home team the lead when
he beat Kenny De Schep-
per 6-4, 6-4, Caroline Gar-
cia leveled for France with
a 6-4, 7-6 (7) win over Daria
Gavrilova, and the Aus-
tralian pair won the mixed
doubles decider 6-4, 2-6,
11-9.
In the Hopman Cup’s 27-
year history, host Australia
has won it only once, in
1999.
“It’s an event that’s been
held for a long, long time
— before I was even born,”
the 20-year-old Kyrgios
said. “It’s pretty special. Me
and Dasha, we grew up to-
gether in juniors. q
“He’s a tough player to against Paire.”
beat, we’ve played so Last year’s finalist Aljaz Be-
many times,” Wawrinka dene of Britain and Borna
said. “I played well and was Coric of Croatia will play in
putting a lot of pressure on the other semifinal.
him. I served good and was Bedene saved all three
moving well. It was a solid break points in a 6-7 (5), 6-4,
match (for me) but I’m pre- 6-3 win over India’s Ramku-
pared for a tough match mar Ramanathan.q