German Nicolas Kiefer defeated Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, 6-7, 8-6 in an ill-tempered quarter-final on Wednesday to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final in 35 attempts.
Both players were involved in an angry exchange after trading shots at the net in the 12th game of a tense fifth set after Kiefer threw his racket as Grosjean was playing.
The Frenchman missed an easy volley and the point was awarded to Kiefer. Grosjean protested bitterly to chair umpire Carlos Bernardes and match referee Mike Morrissey but the point stood.
Twenty-first seed Kiefer, who complained often about line calls and was earlier handed a code violation for swearing, broke a tiring Grosjean's serve in the 14th game of the set to close it out after four hours and 48 minutes, the longest match of the tournament.
He will play either top seed Roger Federer [Images] or fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko in the semi-finals.
© Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
|
Advertisement
Email this Article 
Print this Article