Andy Roddick will take on unheralded Dudi Sela in the China Open final, while Jelena Jankovic faces Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women's title match.
Roddick was pushed hard by unseeded Bjorn Phau of Germany before winning 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-1 and Sela overpowered No. 7 Rainer Schuettler of Germany 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals in Beijing yesterday.
The second-seeded Roddick is the heavy favorite in the final, while Sela is looking for a third major upset in the tournament. Sela already ousted top-seeded David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo, and the Israeli has a relaxed attitude ahead of today's matchup.
"For the final I have nothing to lose," he said.
In the women's event, Jankovic fought off No. 5 Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in their semifinal, while Kuznetsova disappointed the home crowd, beating China's Zheng Jie 7-6 (3), 7-5.
Zheng had ousted second seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in the quarterfinals.
If Jankovic wins the tournament, she will pull within 21 points of No. 1 Serena Williams in the WTA rankings. That will set up a showdown next week in Stuttgart, where Williams, No. 2 Jankovic and six other top-10 players are entered.
Jankovic has had problems with the Russian. Kuznetsova beat her last week in Tokyo and holds a 4-2 career edge.
"Of course, I would like to regain that No. 1 position," Jankovic said. "For me the goal is to end the year as the No. 1 player in the world. I'm really working hard, really trying to win as many matches as possible, win titles."
Roddick overcame Phau in the third set, waiting patiently for his chance.
"For a while there he was just playing extremely high-risk tennis, and you figure if someone plays that way long enough they're going to start missing a little bit," Roddick said.
Roddick has been a crowd favorite in Beijing. His support might grow even stronger when word leaks out that he's donating US$25,000 to victims of the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province. He said the gift was largely spontaneous after talking to people in China.
"We get paid a lot to go to a lot of different places, and I just feel like it's something we should do," Roddick said. "I plan on doing the same for the people who have been hit by the hurricane back home in Texas. It's two similar things."
Sela is ranked only 92nd and can become the first Israeli to take an ATP singles title since Amos Mansdorf in 1993. The last Israeli to reach a singles final was Harel Levy in 2000. He lost to Marat Safin in the final of a Toronto event.
In Bangkok, top-seeded Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga set up a rematch of the Australian Open final by winning yesterday's semifinals at the Thailand Open.
Djokovic beat Thomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-1 while the second-seeded Tsonga ousted fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-0, 6-3.
The third-ranked Djokovic captured the first set with a bit of luck, as the Serb's shot tapped the net and fell over to his opponent's side. Berdych then double faulted to lose his first service game of the second set, while a backhand error saw him go down 1-5. Djokovic closed the game out with a volley on his second match point.
"I felt as if I woke up from the dream in the second set. I felt sleepy in the first set," Djokovic said. "But in the second set I broke him twice. He had bad service games and I took the opportunities."
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily September 28, 2008)