Unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez reached the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Friday, recovering from 2-5 in the final set to defeat fifth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Lopez, who lost the 2004 final to Roger Federer, will next face third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia or sixth-seeded American Andy Roddick, who play later on Friday. Lopez made the worst possible start, salvaging just one point from the first three games, and although he broke back in the fifth game Davydenko broke again to lead 4-2. Lopez then made the first of his two recoveries, winning the next four games to take the set, closing it out with his fourth ace. There was just one break in the second set, when Lopez netted a forehand on break point at 5-4, and the Russian soon gained the upper hand in the third set. With Lopez struggling to find consistency in all areas of his game, Davydenko broke to lead 3-1 and at 5-2 appeared to be ready to contest his first final since he won Moscow last October. But Lopez raised his game, used the aggression that he had produced only in patches throughout the match, and swept the final five games. Davydenko made a spectacular running forehand on the run to save the first match point, but another attempt to play an identical shot on the second match point failed to find the mark. On Thursday Andy Roddick beat Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal 7-6, 6-2. The sixth-seeded American, who parted ways with his coach Jimmy Connors, will face later Friday third seed Novak Djokovic after the Serbian swept aside Russia's Igor Andreev 6-2 6-1.Yan topples Jankovic Yan Zi of China upset world number four Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in three sets on Friday to storm into the semifinals of the $600,000 WTA Bangalore Open. Yan, ranked 54th in the world, won 6-3, 3-6 and 6-3 as the top-seeded Jankovic struggled with a shoulder injury during the third set of the quarterfinal. Yan, looking for her second career title, will take on fourth-seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in Saturday's semifinal. Schnyder, ranked 12th in the world, fought off a spirited challenge from unseeded Akgul Amanmuradiva of Uzbekistan before winning 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) in two hours and 25 minutes. The other semifinal will feature the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, who cruised with easy wins. Second seed Venus brushed aside Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-4, 6-3 before younger sister Serena, seeded third, crushed another Russian Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-4. The Williams sisters, playing for the first time on Indian soil, were excited over their semi-final showdown. “I am happy that one of us will be in the final,” said Venus. Serena joked: “She is a tough player and the only chance of beating her is when she is injured. I want her leg to be broken. “Venus is nice to me all the time except when she is on court. I am also very competitive and I always want to win. We will have fun tomorrow.”Gonzalez bundled out Top-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez saved 10 match points before being knocked out of the Las Vegas Open second round by Russian Yevgeny Korolev 6-3, 7-6 on Thursday. Third seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus also lost, falling 7-6, 6-3 to unseeded American Robby Ginepri. The exits of Gonzalez and Baghdatis left the tournament without its top three seeds. Second seed and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia was upset 6-3, 7-5 by Frenchman Julien Benneteau in a second-round clash on Wednesday. Korolev will face qualifier Kevin Anderson in the quarterfinals, the South African having scraped past American wildcard John Isner 7-6, 7-5 in a contest of big-serving. Latvia's Ernests Gulbis thrashed Peter Luczak of Australia 6-2, 6-1 to book a place in the last eight against Ginepri. __
