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Roddick reaches finals in Beijing, Zheng Jie ousted
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-28 09:42

BEIJING - American Andy Roddick overcame German Bjorn Phau 6-2 6-7 6-1 to reach the final of the China Open on Saturday.


Andy Roddick of USA returns a shot against Bjorn Phau of Germany in the semi-final of the China Open in Beijing. Roddick was forced to dig deep to beat his unfancied opponent in the China Open semi-finals as home favourite Zheng Jie bowed out after a brave run to the last four. [Agencies] 

Germany's Bjorn Phau returns a shot against United States's Andy Roddick during a semi-final match at the China Open tennis in Beijing, China, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008. Roddick won 6-2, 7-6, 6-1. [Agencies] 

In the women's competition, world number two Jelena Jankovic grinded out victory over Vera Zvonareva in their semi-final.


Serbia's Jelena Jankovic reacts after defeating Russia's Vera Zvonareva during a semi-final match at the China Open tennis in Beijing, China, Saturday, Sep. 27, 2008. Jankovic won 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. [Agencies] 

Russia's Vera Zvonareva returns shot against Serbia's Jelena Jankovic in a semi-final match at the China Open tennis competitions in Beijing, China, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008.[Agencies] 

Former U.S. Open champion Roddick seemed set to cruise to an easy win over 137th-ranked Phau after breezing through the first set but ran into a brick wall in the second when the German mounted a gutsy fightback.

The resistance proved only fleeting, though, as Roddick broke Phau's serve and seemingly his spirit after a marathon deuce battle at 1-1 in the final set.

"I was able to break him a little bit there and he started to miss a few after that ... That was the breaking point," Roddick told reporters.

Having matched the American for firepower, Phau sensed the missed opportunity and smacked a ball out of the stadium in anger before throwing away the set.

Roddick, who is in the hunt for four remaining places for November's Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, will meet unseeded Israeli Dudi Sela, whose dream run continued with an emphatic 6-3 6-3 victory over German seventh seed Rainer Schuettler.

World number 92 Sela, who earlier knocked out Spanish top seed David Ferrer and sixth seed Tommy Robredo on the way to his first ATP final, proved too nimble for 32-year-old Wimbledon semi-finalist Schuettler, closing out the match in 69 minutes.

After losing focus in the middle stages, U.S. Open finalist Jankovic notched up the pressure on Russian Zvonareva in the final set to win 6-4 2-6 6-4.

The 23-year-old Serb, who lost to Hungarian Agnes Szavay in the final last year, will face fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who silenced a raucous Chinese crowd by beating local favourite Zheng Jie 7-6 7-5 in the other semi-final.


China's Zheng Jie returns a ball from Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, during a semi-final match at the China Open tennis competition, in Beijing, China, Saturday, Sep. 27, 2008. Kuznetsova won 7-6, 7-5. [Xinhua]

Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia returns a shot against Zheng Jie of China in the semi-final match of the China Open in Beijing. Kuznetsova beat Zheng 7-6 (7-3), 7-5. [Agencies]

World number seven Kuznetsova will fancy her chances in the final of the $600,000 tournament, having beaten Jankovic in their last two meetings, including in the quarter-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last week.