Rusedski through to semis at Indianapolis
Barry Wood
Greg Rusedski followed up his victory over Lleyton Hewitt by defeating Dutchman Martin Verkerk 6-4 7-6 to reach the semi-finals of the Indianapolis Open on Friday.
He will next play third seeded German Tommy Haas, who edged past sixth seed Sebastien Grosjean of France 6-3 3-6 6-3.
Rusedski and Verkerk fought out a closely contested first set and it was not until the ninth game that Rusedski took the lead, hitting a lob that had Verkerk scrambling to make a return that landed wide.
The match continued in the same vein in the second set with Rusedski unable to convert break points in the first and seventh games.
Rusedski also saved a break, and set, point in the 10th game before the 14th-seeded Briton was able to hold on and win in the tiebreak.
"I was pleased the way I played the big points," said Rusedski. "He was serving his second serve as hard as he could on break points and making a lot of good shots, but I think the difference today was that my returning was a little bit better than his.
"I wish I could have got that break early in the second set to make life a little bit easier, and in a tiebreaker with two big servers anything could happen.
"It was very nice to follow up last night with another win."
TOUGH VICTORY
Despite an ailing shoulder, Haas hit 10 aces against Grosjean in a match that see-sawed throughout but was ultimately settled in the third set when the German broke twice to lead 5-1.
He failed to serve out at the first attempt, but came through on his next service game to reach his second semi-final in three weeks.
Rainer Schuettler struggled to end the run of lucky loser Arnaud DiPasquale of France, dropping the first set before rallying for a 2-6 6-4 6-1 victory.
DiPasquale, who was given a place in the main draw when Marat Safin withdrew with a viral infection, romped through the final four games of the opening set, despite double-faulting twice at 40-15 in the final game.
In the second set Schuettler built a 4-1 lead, only for DiPasquale to fight back to 5-4 before the ninth seeded German secured the set.
In the deciding set, Schuettler ran away with the match, losing only the fourth game to wrap up victory in just under two hours.
Schuettler will play unseeded Felix Mantilla of Spain, who recovered from a set and a break down to beat France's 15th seed Arnaud Clement 1-6 6-4 6-4.
Also read: Hewitt knocked out by Rusedski at Indianapolis
