Japan’s rising son Nishikori upsets Berdych, makes semifinal at home

Second seed Tomas Berdych crashed out in the day's late quarter-final, beaten 7-5 6-4 by local favourite Kei Nishikori under floodlights in the tournament's biggest upset so far.

Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus beat Russia's Dmitry Tursunov 6-2 6-4 to reach the last four of the $1.28 million hardcourt tournament. He next faces eighth seed Nishikori, who became the first Japanese to reach the semi-finals with an inspired performance against 2008 Tokyo winner Berdych.

"I just kept going for broke, said Nishikori. I let my mind wander to winning the match in the second set but luckily I kept my focus and got the result," Nishikori said.

Title holder Andy Murray beat fellow racquet-trasher Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2 3-6 6-2 to reach the semi-finals. Briton Murray faces sixth seed Milos Raonic on Saturday after the big-serving Canadian squeaked by third seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 6-2 7-6 in an epic struggle where there were no breaks in the first two sets.

Federer receives threat

shanghai: Shanghai Masters organisers have increased security for the tournament after an online threat to decapitate world number one Roger Federer. "On October 6 I plan to assassinate Federer in order to exterminate tennis," read a post by Blue Cat Polytheistic Leader 07 on a Federer fan website on September 25. the post was accompanied by a very scary computer modified image showing a decapitated Federer.

Federer may go directly from the airport's VIP arrival hall to his hotel as part of the precautions, Yang Yibin, the tournament director, said.

Sania-Nuria in final

china: Sania Mirza may end her season with a title as she reached the final of the China Open with her partner Nuria Llagostera Vives. The fifth seeded Indo-Spanish pair downed sixth seeds Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia and Jie Zheng of China 7-5 6-1 in the semifinals. They play third seeded Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Meanwhile, the India pair of Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi crashed out with a 2-6 6-7 (8) defeat at the hands of Carlos Berlocq and Denis Istomin.

... contd.

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