Top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal reached the Argentina Open semifinals Friday, braving sweltering temperatures of 33 degrees to clinch a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 win over Italian journeyman Paolo Lorenzi. Nadal, the world No. 5, is back on his favorite clay court surface and is playing his first event since his shock opening round loss to compatriot Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open last month. He had seen off close friend Juan Monaco of Argentina in Thursday's first round but faced a slightly tougher test Friday when 34-year-old Lorenzi, the No. 52, clawed his way back from a 4-1 first set deficit. But 29-year-old Nadal clinched victory on his first match point after one hour and 51 minutes on court. It was the Spaniard's 346th win on clay as he remains on track to claim a 48th career title on the surface which has brought him his greatest success. Nadal will now face Austria's world No. 19 Dominic Thiem for a place in the final. Thiem, the fifth seed, defeated Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-2 in his quarterfinal. Venus to meet Doi in final Top-seeded Venus Williams beat Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-3 Saturday to advance to the final of the Taiwan Open. Williams, who advanced to the final without dropping a set, raced into a 4-1 lead in the first set but her opponent won four out of the next five games to level at 5-5. They stayed even until a double fault and a mishit forehand from third-seeded Putintseva gave Williams a break to close out the opening set. The seven-time major winner, a surprise first-round loser at the Australian Open last month, will face Japan's Misaki Doi in Sunday's final. Second-seeded Doi beat local favorite Hsieh Su-wei 6-0, 6-2. Klizan in Rotterdam final Martin Klizan completed a second successive escape at the Rotterdam World Tennis, beating Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 Saturday to reach the final after saving three match points. The Slovak had already saved five match points in the previous round to defeat Robert Bautista Agut. Klizan will bid for the trophy Sunday when he plays either German Philipp Kohlschreiber or French fifth seed Gael Monfils. Bencic to play Vinci in final Belinda Bencic of Switzerland beat Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-4, 6-3 in a battle of 18-year-olds to book a St. Petersburg final against Roberta Vinci of Italy, who earlier in the day downed Serbia's Ana Ivanovic in straight sets (7-5, 6-4). On Friday, Bencic battled from a set down to advance by beating Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7 (7/4), 6-4, 6-2 and Kasatkina, also bounced back from a set down to beat Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Fritz makes history Teenager Taylor Fritz beat Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5) Friday at the Memphis Open, becoming the youngest American to reach an ATP Tour semifinal since 1989. Fritz needed 2 hours, 20 minutes to continue his amazing run at The Racquet Club. Fritz, who turned 18 on Oct. 28, used his big serve and strong forehand to advance to his first career ATP semifinal as the youngest American since Michael Chang won Wembley in 1989 at the age of 17 The teenager, in the event as a wild card ranked 145th in the world, will play Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania. Berankis upset No. 3 seed Donald Young 7-6, 6-1, needing 80 minutes to advance. Three-time defending champion Kei Nishikori beat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-4 at night to extend his match winning streak to 15 in Memphis. Nishikori will play fourth-seeded Sam Querrey, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka, in a rematch of their semifinal last year. Tops seeds Serena, Kerber pull out of Dubai Open Top seeds Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber have withdrawn from the WTA Dubai Open, organisers announced Saturday. "We regret to announce that Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber have withdrawn due to illness and injury," the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships wrote on their official Twitter account ahead of the draw. The withdrawals follow that of Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska and Alize Cornet of France. Defending champion Simona Halep of Romania is now the top seed in the tournament which starts Monday with world No. 5 Garbine Muguruza of Spain moving up to second seed. — Agencies
