Stefan Koubek scores the upset of the tournament even as the other seeds progress to the last four
MUMBAI: Three of the top four seeds at the $380,000 Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open met the expectations of the organisers by making it to the last four stage on Friday even as the fourth bit the dust.
Stefan Koubek came up with the upset of the tournament so far by putting it across Mario Ancic, the second seed. The 29-year-old Austrian scored a come-from-behind 3-6 6-4 6-3 win over the Croat to book his second semifinal berth of the year.
Koubek, a former top-20 player now ranked 118 on the list, had made it to the final at Zagreb earlier this year, losing to another Croat, Ivan Ljubicic. Here, however, he was the first player in the whole week to trouble Ancic while the Croat failed to put his act together.
On Saturday, the Austrian will be up against against the third-seeded Czech, Tomas Berdych. Meanwhile, top seed Tommy Robredo of Spain, who beat Ramon Delgado of Paraguay 6-2 7-6 (1), will play Dmitry Tursunov, the fourth seed from Russia, in the other semifinal. Berdych survived a few anxious moments before outlasting German Bjorn Phau 6-3 7-5 in the opening quarterfinal clash.
Meanwhile, the second semifinal offers a more exciting prospect. Tursunov has this week cultivated the habit of making things difficult for his own self and in the process has ended up making seemingly easy matches interesting. His clash against Briton James Auckland was no different.
The Russian dropped the opening set before coming back to score a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win, hitting a terrific crosscourt forehand at match point to leave his opponent —- and the few who were present to support him — in a state of disbelief.
But the 23-year-old Russian needn’t worry. For, his opponent, Spaniard Tommy Robredo, may be the highest seeded player in the tournament, but is by no means a safe bet. In his match against Delgado, he did something similar to what he had done against Berrer a day earlier.
Fortunately for Robredo his opponent wasn’t able to take advantage of his frailties. With a kind of game he has, it wouldn’t be wise to place money on the Spaniard winning unless he has actually won — or unless you are his hardcore fan.
The head-to-head also suggests the same. The Spaniard may have a 2-1 edge over the Russian but is by no means a favourite going into the match. The duo has split their two matches this year. And going by Tursunov’s philosophy — “playing three sets is always better” — it is palpable what to expect from this match.
