AHMEDABAD, December 4: Trust Leander Paes to comeback. He will dig his own grave, rest there for a while but as you are ready to engrave RIP on the tomb, Mr Phoenix rises. Today it was a bit too close, he almost got buried. Against the in-form Goichi Motomura of Japan in the quarter-final match of the ATP Challenger at the AGETA courts, the top seed won 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) courtesy a contentious ace on final of the third set tie-breaker.Others joining the Indian star in the last four were second seed Oleg Ogorodov, unseeded Vadim Kutsenko and Herbert Wiltschnig. Ogorodov defeated Vladimir Voltchkov 6-4, 7-5, Kutsenko overcame David Nainkin 6-3, 6-4 while Wiltschnig beat Steven Randjelovic 6-4, 6-2.As it has been proved so often, for the hardcore Leander fans it is better to come a bit late for his match. The way in which the world number 125 began, one wondered was this the much hyped Indian star. His backhand slice lacked bite, the drop shots were reachable and the serve a bit too friendly. At the other end, Motomura whacked the ball at will and Leander's unforced errors helped his cause. The same trend continued in the second set too, with Motomura racing to a 3-1 lead. But the sixth game of the second set changed it all. A menacing chip and charge, a thunderous backhand pass on Motomura's serve and the score read 3-3. Motomura was broken twice again and Leander pocked the set at 6-4.The third set saw frequent change of leads, with Leander attacking the net on virtually every shot. Leander had quite a few opportunities of closing the match as he lead 5-4, 6-5 in the decider. But each time Motomura came back. In the tie-breaker, Leander lead 6-4 but Motomura fought to make it 6-6. Then it was 7-6 with Leander serving. He served an ace down the middle ace but Motomura did not think so. The Japanese, who had complained of bad calls throughout the match sat at the baseline with his head in hands contemplating on the lost chance.The Indian star plays Vadim Kutsenko in the semis while Ogrodov plays Wiltschnig.ResultsLeander Paes bt Motomura 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); Oleg Ogorodov bt Vladimir Voltchkov 6-4, 7-5; Vadim Kutsenko bt David Nainkin 6-3, 6-4; Herbert Wiltschnig bt Steven Randjelovic 6-4, 6-2.
