Fognini, Klizan reach St. Pete Open final
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Martin Klizan of Slovakia upset top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny at the St. Petersburg Open on Saturday, beating the Russia 6-7 (11), 6-4, 7-6 (3) to reach his first ATP final.
The third-seeded Klizan will face fourth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy, who defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-3, 6-4 in the other semifinal. Fognini will be playing in his second career final after winning his first title in Romania in April.
Tsonga, Seppi reach Moselle Open final
METZ, France — Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat eighth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 Saturday to advance to the Moselle Open final, where he will defend his title against fifth-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy.
Seppi rallied past seventh-seeded Gael Monfils of France 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach his third final of the season. Seppi and Tsonga will be going for their second titles of the year Sunday. Tsonga won the Qatar Open in January and Seppi won the Serbia Open in May.
Su-wei beats Robson to win Guangzhou
GUANGZHOU, China — Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan scored beat Laura Robson of Britain 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 Saturday to win the Guangzhou Open.
Robson had nine aces but was let down by her serve, offering 22 break opportunities to Hsieh and hitting 11 double faults. Hsieh, who made the third round at Wimbledon this year and is ranked 53rd, broke six times and dropped serve on five occasions in the match.
The 18-year-old Robson became the first British woman in 22 years to make a WTA final. She made the last 16 of the US Open and won a mixed doubles silver at the London Olympics with U.S. Open champion Andy Murray.
Wozniacki advances to Korea Open finals
SEOUL, South Korea — Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the finals of the Korea Open, beating Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 Saturday.
The Dane will face Kaia Kanepi of Estonia today. Kanepi beat Varvara Lepchenko of the United States 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the other semifinal.
Austin Dillon wins Kentucky Nationwide
SPARTA, Ky. — Rookie Austin Dillon took advantage of misfortune by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Elliott Sadler to the Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday.
Sam Hornish Jr. was second, followed by Brendan Gaughan, Drew Herring and Sadler, who reclaimed the season points lead from Stenhouse.
Dillon seemed destined for a runner-up run behind Sadler, who got an opening when Stenhouse collided with Eric McClure on pit road on lap 33.
That essentially handed first place to Sadler, and he began pulling away in pursuit of his fifth win this season.
But Sadler encountered steering issues with 50 laps left and subsequent pit stops for corrections ultimately yielded the lead to his Richard Childress Racing teammate.
Sadler has a four-point lead over Stenhouse, who finished 17th. Dillon is 19 points back.
Dillon, who won the pole, completed a season sweep at Kentucky. He dominated the June race, leading 192 of 200 laps.
Jeff Gordon wins NASCAR pole
LOUDON, N.H. — Jeff Gordon will start from the pole for the NASCAR race in New Hampshire on Sunday as he tries to move up in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Gordon ran a lap at 134.911 mph in qualifying Friday. Kyle Busch was second, at 134.753 mph.
Gordon heads into the race today ranked 12th in the Sprint Cup standings. Points leader Brad Keselowski qualified 15th.
Suspect arrested
in player beating
WICHITA, Kan. —Authorities arrested a 19-year-old Texas man in connection with the recent beating of a Tabor College football player, who’s in critical condition.
Police found 26-year-old Brandon Brown, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound redshirt defensive lineman from Sacramento, Calif., lying unresponsive in McPherson early last Sunday. He was taken to a hospital in Wichita where he is on life-support.
McPherson police chief Robert McClarty said Saturday that a 19-year-old Texas man has been charged with aggravated battery in connection with the beating and is being held on $100,000 bond.
By wire sources
