Serena again fights back from the brink

Serena Williams saved three match points, while Novak Djokovic revived his stuttering Australian Open preparations in fierce heat at the Sydney International yesterday.

Williams, who also saved four match points in her first round win over Australia's Samantha Stosur, provided a further demonstration of her fighting spirit in coming back to beat Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 6-7 6-3 7-6 in their quarter-final.

Wozniacki looked poised for a shock win when she broke Williams to lead 6-5 in the second set but she failed to serve out, squandering three match points in the process.

Djokovic rebounded from his shock first-round loss in Brisbane last week to crush Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-1 6-2 in their second-round match at the Olympic tennis centre.

The scorching heat claimed one casualty when Russia's former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova pulled out of her quarter-final with Ai Sugiyama with a stomach problem but two other Russians survived.

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva chalked up her eighth straight win this season, 6-2 5-7 6-4 over Poland's Agniezska Radwanska, to earn a semi-final with Williams.

World number three Dinara Safina defeated Alize Cornet 6-3 6-4 to set up a meeting with Sugiyama.

Djokovic only entered the Sydney International after requesting a wildcard to get some much needed practice following his early exit in Brisbane.

He played during the hottest part of the day and although he was not completely satisfied with his performance, he said the workout was just what he needed heading into Melbourne next week.

"It's absolutely normal that you have some ups and downs during the match and during the tournament, but if you're able to overcome that then you are a champion," he said.

Djokovic faces Mario Ancic in today's quarter-finals after the Croat beat Spain's Tommy Robredo, with the winner to play either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.

German Open

The German Open women's tournament in Berlin has been cancelled, the WTA said yesterday.

The claycourt event usually takes place in May and has been one of the traditional warm-up tournaments for the French Open.

The German Open was bought by the Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) to boost the image of the country in Europe.

During the tournament, programmes and exhibitions used to take place to promote sports tourism in Qatar.