VIENNA, 16 October 2005 — Ivan Ljubicic reached his second final in two weeks yesterday when he beat fifth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-6, 6-4 in Vienna.

The Croat’s opponent in today’s final of the Vienna Trophy will be another Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who overcame third-seeded Radek Stepanek 7-6, 6-3.

Fourth seed Ljubicic, who has now won 11 consecutive matches, looked weary at times but his greater firepower on his serve gave him the edge over an opponent who challenged strongly with lively running and a powerful backhand.

Schiavone to Face Pierce

in Kremlin Cup Final

In Moscow, unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone will meet third seed Mary Pierce in today’s Kremlin Cup final after both players claimed straight-set semifinal victories over Russian opponents yesterday.

Schiavone crushed fourth seed Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-1 to spoil the Russian’s 24th birthday while 30-year-old Pierce overcame teenager Dinara Safina 7-6, 6-3.

Schiavone, who had already knocked out second seed Amelie Mauresmo and 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the last four, continued her giant-killing run at Moscow’s Olympic sports complex.

Schiavone took control at 3-3 in the first set when she won the next seven games.

After wasting her first two match points Schiavone finally put the home favorite out of her misery in just over an hour.

In the men’s final, sixth-seeded German Nicolas Kiefer will take on Russia’s seventh seed Igor Andreev.

Andreev outlasted his Davis Cup teammate Dmitry Tursunov 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 while Kiefer prevailed over Russian qualifier Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 6-4.

Blake Cruises, Paradorn

Battles to Reach Final

In Stockholm, James Blake scored a convincing 6-4, 6-3 win over Belgian Olivier Rochus at the Stockholm Open yesterday, setting up a final with Thai Paradorn Srichaphan who struggled past Italian Davide Sanguinetti.

Blake is bidding for his third career title after winning in Washington in 2002 and in Long Island earlier this year, but the Stockholm final will be his first ATP final outside the United States. Rochus got the better start in the match and broke Blake for 4-2 before the American found his groove and grabbed five games in a row, clinching the first set on his way 6-4 with a second serve ace.

Petrova Faces Vaidisova

in Thailand Open Final

In Bangkok, Russia’s Nadia Petrova moved one step closer to her first WTA title after defeating Italy’s Antonella Serra Zanetti in the semifinals of the $200,000 Thailand Open yesterday.

Petrova faces Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova on Sunday, after battling back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 15 minutes. The top seeded Russian struggled in the opening set and was broken twice with a string of unforced errors. But she went on to produce the winning shots and strong serves to clinch victory on her first match point.

Second seed Vaidisova threw away two match points when leading 6-5 in the third set against Argentine Gisela Dulko before winning 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3).