Philippoussis storms into semis

Philippoussis storms into semis
Agence France Presse

Memphis, February 24: Australia’s Mark Philippoussis ended the dream run of 18-year-old Russian Dmitry Tursunov, taking a 6-3, 6-2 triumph here yesterday to reach the semi-finals of the ATP St Jude Classic.

In his first ATP main draw, Tursunov advanced to the quarter-finals before being taken down by the hard-serving second seed, who is competing in his first event of the year after off season left knee surgery.

Philippoussis will face third seed Tommy Haas of Germany for a berth in tomorrow’s final. Haas won here in 1999, one year after Philippoussis.

Haas took a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over fifth-seeded American Jan-Michael Gambill in 68 minutes to advance. The $800,000 event’s other semi-final will match Canada’s Sebastien Lareau, who ousted Australia’s Jason Stoltenburg 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, and Italy’s Davide Sanguinetti, who beat American Chris Woodruff 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Kournikova out of action for a week
LONDON: Anna Kournikova will be out of action for a month after suffering a stress fracture in her left foot.

The Russian, who has yet to win her first career title, is likely to miss her next two tournaments in Acapulco, Mexico, and Indian Wells, California, the BBC reported on Saturday. Kournikova, ranked eighth by the WTA Tour, has not played since her loss to France’s Amelie Mauresmo in the quarter-finals of the Paris Open indoor event on February 9. She reached the fourth round in the singles of the Australian Open in January.