STOCKHOLM, 25 October 2003 — Fifth seed Mardy Fish chipped away at the invincible game of Croatian Mario Ancic Friday, advancing on a desperation fifth match point yesterday into the semifinals of the 650,000-euros Stockholm Open.
The 21-year-old American, the only seed remaining in the field at the Kungligahallen, earned a 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-4) victory in two hours, 26 minutes of struggle.
Fish will aim today for his fourth final of the season as he faces either compatriot Robby Ginepri or Sweden’s three-time holder Thomas Enqvist.
“It’s really good to be in the semifinals during the autumn season,” said the world number 24, who has lost title showdowns in 2003 at Delray Beach, Nottingham and Cincinnati. “The most important thing is that I’m hitting the ball well.”
The American almost matched the big-hitting teenager Ancic on aces, striking 14 to his opponent’s 16.
Fish sank the Croatian’s hopes despite losing out on three match points in the second-set tiebreaker and one more in the tenth game of the final set.
Ancic only lost serve once on nine Fish break points; the Croatian world No. 67 improved his record to 15-21 as he played in his second quarterfinal of the season.
Young wild card hope Rolf Soderling put out senior Swede Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-3, winning his ninth match of the season.
Bjorkman, the 1997 Stockholm champion, already ousted countryman Andreas Vinciguerra in the first round.
Bjorkman was playing his seventh quarter-final of a consistent year. He stands 27-20, his top effort since 2000 (30-25).
Soderling followed up on a Shanghai semi in September and awaits an opponent from fellow Swede Joachim Johansson or 32-year-old Italian Davide Sanguinetti.
Coria, Ljubicic Reach Semifinals in Basel
Third-seed Guillermo Coria and big-serving Croatian Ivan Ljubicic set up a semifinal showdown in the Swiss Indoors after quarterfinal victories yesterday.
Argentine Coria breezed to a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 win over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, while Ljubicic overcame Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Coria, playing in his first tournament since the US Open, comfortably took the opening set against Lopez, before the Spaniard lost his form in the second as Coria won the final three games.
“I didn’t think it would be so easy,” Coria said. “Lopez is a good player and it feels good to have won that easily.
“I feel as well as I did two months ago,” added the 21-year-old, who has been sidelined because of a leg injury since a quarterfinal defeat to Andre Agassi at Flushing Meadows. Ljubicic added to his scalp of second seed and home favorite Roger Federer on Thursday by coming from a set down to beat Lapentti.
The 24-year-old Croat secured a semifinal berth for the fourth time this season after previous final four appearances in Milan, Dubai and Bangkok as Lapentti failed to live with Ljubicic’s big serve.
“I was maybe a bit over confident in the beginning,” Ljubicic said. “I was expecting to play better in the first set.
“I started to play much better in the second — it seemed to take me one set to find my rhythm. To finish the season like this is nice and it gives me motivation for the winter.” Defending champion David Nalbandian booked a place in the semifinals after defeating Tim Henman 6-2, 6-4.
Nalbandian, the fourth seed, will face either top-seeded American Andy Roddick or Belgian Olivier Rochus, who play later.
Argentine Nalbandian, repeating his quarterfinal victory over Henman in Basel 12 months ago, broke twice in the Briton’s opening two service games to take a 4-0 lead, which Henman was unable to recover from. Nalbandian, whose only defeat to Henman came at Wimbledon earlier this year, gained the crucial break with the scores level at 3-3 in the second set. He resisted pressure from Henman to serve out for 6-4 in the second set, ending the tie with an ace.
