SYDNEY: World number one Serena Williams called on all her signature fighting spirit to overhaul French opponent Aravane Rezai and reach her first Sydney International final on Thursday.
The American 11-time Grand Slam champion clawed back from a set and 2-5 down to defeat 27th-ranked Rezai 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 and will play defending champion Elena Dementieva in Friday’s final.
Fifth seed Dementieva, who downed Williams at this stage in last year’s tournament, was too strong for sixth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the other semi, marching to a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Williams will be bidding for her 36th title, while Dementieva will be after her 15th. Williams leads 7-4 in their career matches.
Meanwhile, Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau will bid to become the first French finalist at the Sydney International for almost two decades when they play each other in a semifinal on Friday (today).
Former world top-10 player Gasquet, back after being cleared of doping last year, beat Italian Potito Starace 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) while Benneteau downed Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-0 in Thursday’s quarters.
It means a French finalist is guaranteed for Saturday’s tournament decider for the first time since Guy Forget played in the 1992 Sydney final.
Three Frenchmen have won the Sydney International in the post-1968 Open era — Forget (1991), Yannick Noah (1990) and Henri Leconte (1985).
It has been an encouraging week for the 53rd-ranked Gasquet, who has beaten Spanish Davis Cup winner Feliciano Lopez, German eighth seed Benjamin Becker and now the 62nd-ranked Starace to reach the semis.
“This will be the third time I am in a semifinal in Sydney,” Gasquet said. “I’ve lost two times in semis, so I hope this year I will be able to go in the final. I will try my best.
“I think I’m playing good and I’m serving well, and most important I am happy to play and to be here.”
Gasquet won his only meeting with compatriot Benneteau in straight sets in this tournament three years ago.
The 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus eliminated Australian four-time tournament winner Lleyton Hewitt in another quarter-final, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
It was the first time they had met since their epic third-round encounter at the 2008 Australian Open, which started just before midnight and ran for four hours 43 minutes and Hewitt won in five sets.
Baghdatis, ranked 42, will face American Mardy Fish, who won the night quarter-final against Australian Davis Cup member Peter Luczak, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
“I’m feeling fit, no injuries, no pain, so I guess I will need some more matches like this to start feeling my game coming slowly back,” Baghdatis said.
Hewitt said he was not totally disappointed in bowing out of the tournament early.
“I was trying a few different things out there today and mixing up the game a little bit,” he said. “And hopefully it’ll hold me in good stead for next week at the Australian Open.
“I didn’t quite hit the spots when I need to do, especially trying to consolidate that break early in today’s second set, which would have been good to try and to keep that momentum.
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