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Soderling takes tight quarterfinal win
BASTAD, Sweden, Top-seeded Robin Soderling survived a third-set tie-breaker Friday and advanced to the semifinals of the Swedish Open tennis tournament.
Soderling, playing in his native country, just got past Andreas Seppi 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) in Friday's quarterfinals. Soderling needed to overcome a third-set service break to force the tie-breaker for a chance to win. The match took nearly 2 1/2 hours.
Soderling will go against a relatively fresh David Ferrer, the No. 3 seed, who defeated Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-3 in about half the time of Soderling's match. Ferrer only faced two break points, saving both.
Saturday's other semifinal will have fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo against fourth-seeded Nicolas Almagro.
Robredo took out second-seeded Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-3, dropping serve just once. Almagro wrapped up Friday's play with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Franco Skugor. Almagro lost only six points in the third set.
Saturday's winners advance to the tournament title match Sunday with a first-place check worth about $92,500. The runner-up will take home more than $48,000. Saturday's semifinals losers will earn about $26,000.
BASTAD, Sweden, Top-seeded Robin Soderling survived a third-set tie-breaker Friday and advanced to the semifinals of the Swedish Open tennis tournament.
Soderling, playing in his native country, just got past Andreas Seppi 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) in Friday's quarterfinals. Soderling needed to overcome a third-set service break to force the tie-breaker for a chance to win. The match took nearly 2 1/2 hours.
Soderling will go against a relatively fresh David Ferrer, the No. 3 seed, who defeated Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-3 in about half the time of Soderling's match. Ferrer only faced two break points, saving both.
Saturday's other semifinal will have fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo against fourth-seeded Nicolas Almagro.
Robredo took out second-seeded Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-3, dropping serve just once. Almagro wrapped up Friday's play with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Franco Skugor. Almagro lost only six points in the third set.
Saturday's winners advance to the tournament title match Sunday with a first-place check worth about $92,500. The runner-up will take home more than $48,000. Saturday's semifinals losers will earn about $26,000.