Sydney, Auckland, Melbourne: Top-ranked Serena Williams came from a set and 5-2 down to beat Avarane Rezai 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 Thursday and move into a Sydney International final against defending champion Elena Dementieva.
Rezai was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set but reigning Australian Open champion Williams won the next five games to level it and go a break up in the third. Rezai of France recovered breaks in the first and seventh games of the third set but Williams broke her to lead 5-4 and then served it out.
In the men's quarterfinals, Richard Gasquet of France had a 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over Italian Potito Starace and Frenchman Julien Benneteau beat Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-0.
Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis beat former No 1 Lleyton Hewitt 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, ending Hewitt's attempt for his fifth Sydney title.
Meanwhile, big-serving American John Isner advanced to the Auckland Open semifinals for the first time with a three-set victory over top seed Tommy Robredo yesterday.
The 24-year-old Isner, who was knocked out at the quarter-final stage last year, overpowered the 16th ranked Robredo with 20 aces to run out a 7-6 3-6 6-4 winner.
"It was tough... and I certainly had to dig deep," the popular Isner told reporters of his third three-set victory this week. "Down a break in the first. Down a break in the third. I had to play pretty well to keep my head and that's what I did."
Strong contender
In other tennis news, in Melbourne Spain's Fernando Verdasco emerged as a strong contender for next week's Australian Open with a 6-1 6-2 demolition of world number three Novak Djokovic to book a place in the final of the Kooyong Classic yesterday.
However, the tournament was hit by two withdrawals that could have a big impact on the first grand slam of the year when world No 8 Robin Soderling and US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro both fell victim to injury.
Soderling retired hurt with an elbow problem after losing the first set 6-4 against Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic while organisers confirmed that Del Potro had pulled out of the tournament with an injured wrist, without elaborating on the extent of the damage.
The Argentine had been due to play a semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with the Frenchman now advancing to meet Verdasco.
World number nine Verdasco, who lost an epic semi-final battle against eventual winner Rafael Nadal in Melbourne last year, needed only 52 minutes to brush aside an out-of-sorts Djokovic, who collapsed in a hail of unforced errors.
Results
Sydney International: Men's quarterfinals: Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) beat 4-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Julien Benneteau (France) beat Leonardo Mayer (Argentina) 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-0; Richard Gasquet (France) beat Potito Starace (Italy) 6-3, 7-6 (7). Women's semifinals: 5-Elena Dementieva (Russia) beat 6-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 6-3, 6-1; 1-Serena Williams (US) beat Aravane Rezai (France) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Auckland Open: Men's quarterfinals: 5-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) beat Marc Gicquel (France) 6-3 6-1; Arnaud Clement (France) beat 6-Juergen Melzer (Austria) 6-2, 7-5; John Isner (US) beat 1-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4; 8-Albert Montanes (Spain) beat Michael Lammer (Switzerland) 6-3, 6-3. Kooyong Classic: Second round: Fernando Verdasco (Spain) beat Tommy Haas, Germany, 6-2, 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 6-1, 6-2; Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) beat Robin Soderling (Sweden) 6-4, retired. Hobart International: Women's quarterfinals: Sara Errani (Italy) beat Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) 6-3, 6-4; 4-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat 7-Zheng Jie (China) 7-5, 7-5.
