Tomic Turns It Around to Reach Sydney Semis

Bernard Tomic delighted his local fans with a come from behind victory to reach the semis of the Apia International. Julian Benneteau ousted Ryan Harrison earlier in the day.

By Erik Gudris

(January 10, 2013) - Bernard Tomic appears to have put his recent off-court troubles behind him and instead is becoming trouble on the court for his opponents as the Australian reached the semifinals of the Apia International in Sydney.

Facing defending champion Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, Tomic found himself in an up and down struggle especially during the first set when Tomic lost his serve and allowed Nieminen to open up a 5-2 lead. But Nieminen, through several errors, allowed Tomic back into the set that was settled by a tiebreak that Nieminen narrowly won through a series of successful forays to the net.

Tomic weathered more pressure on his serve in the second set, but it was Nieminen who blinked first when serving to stay in it at 4-5. More errors from the Finn gave Tomic the set 6-4 and sent things into a decider.

From there, Tomic proved the superior of the two as an early break gave the Aussie command of the final set. A final double fault from Nieminen gave Tomic the 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Sydney marks the second career semifinal for Tomic who will now face Italy's Andreas Seppi who took out Spain's Marcel Granollers 6-4, 7-5.

Benneteau Keeps Quest Alive for Elusive Maiden Title

France's Julien Benneteau, who reached the Sydney finals last year, kept on course on reaching the final round again with a straight sets over Ryan Harrison.

Harrison, who upset the No. 1 seed John Isner yesterday, went down an early break, and that was all the Frenchman needed to go ahead and eventually claim the first set 6-4.

Though he fought off three break points against him early in the second set, Harrison couldn't save himself again when he dropped serve at 1-2 to give Benneteau the lead. The Frenchman never looked back and went on to win 6-4, 6-2.

Benneteau, who has never won an ATP tour title, will next face South Africa's Kevin Anderson who beat Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-3.

(Photo Credit: Corleve)