Baghdatis, Troicki set up Malaysia semi
Date published :
30 Sep 2011 - 16:05:39
Unseeded Marcos Baghdatis will face second seed Viktor Troicki for a place in the Malaysian Open final after both enjoyed straight sets wins on Friday.
Troicki, who helped Serbia to the Davis Cup title last year, booked his place in the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Russian Dmitry Tursunov.
It was tougher for former Australian Open finallist Baghdatis, who had to work for just under 90 minutes to upset Austrian fourth seed Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Neither man had lost a set this week entering their match at the Putra stadium.
Baghdatis, from Cyprus, struck 13 aces to set up the match against Troicki. The pair met twice last season, winning one match apiece.
Troicki was largely untroubled by Tursunov. "It's helping my confidence to get some wins here," said the Serb. "I lost early in Cincinnati (August) and at the US Open so my confidence wasn't great coming in.
"Getting to another ATP semi-final helps a lot."
Troicki said that solid returns from both men led to ten break point chances in the match.
"I controlled the second set at 4-0 and 5-1, but then I lost one serve and he's back to 5-4.
"My focus went down a bit maybe, but it was good to close it out in two sets," he said.
