Norman slays Korda too

Norman earned a semifinal clash with seventh-seeded Australian Jason Stoltenberg, who had to play just four games before taking his place in the final four.

Stoltenberg moved on when Fernando Meligeni retired trailing 1-3 in the first set. The unseeded Brazilian sustained a hip injury in his previous match and was unable to compete effectively yesterday.

Moya crashes out

MUNICH: Marc Rosset of Switzerland, fighting a flu, hung to oust second-seeded Carlos Moya in straight sets and reach the semifinals of the $ 450,000 BMW Open.

Rosset, seeded seventh, was treated twice court side even as he won the key points in a match plagued by errors from both players to beat the Spaniard, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) yesterday.

Rosset is coming off a string of early-round losses since winning Antwerp in February. The big server boasts only 23 aces against 19 double faults during three tournament matches.

Rosset faces Alex Corretja of Spain in the semis after the No 5 seed posted a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 win over German qualifier Martin Sinner.

Another big server, Australia’s eighth-seeded Mark Philippoussis also reached the semifinals by struggling past Andrea Gaudenzi, Italy, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

He takes on Czech Republic’s Slava Dosedel, the defending champion who ousted Danish qualifier Frederik Fetterlein 7-5 6-4.

Santoro upsets Rios

PRAGUE: Frenchman Fabrice Santoro upset second-seeded Chilean star Marcelo Rios 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 and advanced to the semifinals of the $ 365,000 Czech Open men’s tennis tournament.

He will play local favourite Bohdan Ulihrach, who beat Alberto Portas of Spain 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Coetzer falls to 15-yr-old

BOL: Croatia’s 15-year-old Mirjana Lucic, playing her first WTA Tournament, beat No 1 seed Amanda Coetzer of South Africa today and moved into the finals of the $107,500 Croatian Bol Ladies Tournament.

Lucic, the world’s No 1 ranked women’s junior player, faces Corina Morariu of the United States on Sunday for the Championship.

Morariu, ranked 129th on the WTA list, defeated Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland, 6-1 1-6 6-3 in a match featuring uneven play by both.

Majoli, Dragomir in final

HAMBURG: Croatia’s Iva Majoli and Romania’s Ruxandra Dragomir routed inexperienced opponents today to reach the finals of the $450,000 Rexona Cup.

Majoli, the fourth-seed, stopped the run of Spanish qualifier Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-3 6-2 while seventh-seeded Dragomir ousted 17-year-old Anne Gaelle Sidot of France 6-4 6-0.