“There’s not that much strategy,” Dmitry Tursunov explained after his three-set win over Ivo Karlovic. “You just try to get one of your returns in, and make sure you don’t do anything stupid on your serve.”

Apparently that practicality worked – and, it helps if your ace-machine opponent has some trouble finding the serve box – even though Karlovic blasted 30 aces in three long sets. Tursunov got looks at second serves throughout the match – but it was still tough to break the tree-like Croat, whose first serve has been clocked in the 140s. Even Karlovic’s second serve has a wicked kick.

“It’s hard for me to judge, it comes in fairly fast so it’s hard to tell if he’s serving well or not,” Tursunov said. “My return offset some of his aces, but it’s difficult to play in these conditions where the ball is heavy. Even if you guess right and make contact with the ball it’s still fairly hard to control it. You just hope that he’s going to serve some second serves and you’re going to get some looks.”

And you have to hope that Karlovic’s wicked slice flaps the net a few times on key points – which it did. On the other hand it’s always amazing to watch the big guy play his delicate drop shots and razor-volleys – especially when the Russian whips a slice down at his shoelaces. For a 6’ 10” tall guy like Dr. Ivo – picking those off is like reaching out of a two-story window to swat a cat.

Tursonov served strongly throughout the match, and fired aggressive winners on returns when he could get a racquet on the ball.

Tursunov says that in tiebreaks – the “don’t do anything stupid” rule is especially important. “I think he also realizes that tiebreaks are a little bit of a crapshoot. With him, there’s not much I can do. If the ball comes in at 140, if I don’t guess right –it’s not that I didn’t train enough or I’m doing something wrong - it’s just physically impossible to guess it right sometimes.”

“It’s kind of hard to play the way you want to play against a server of his caliber,” Tursunov adds. “I thought I did a good job of playing within myself and not doing anything silly. Hopefully I’ll win tomorrow, but he’s definitely one of the most difficult players to play so I’m very happy to get through.”

The final score was 6-7(8), 7-6(5), 7-6(3).
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In the second singles semi-final of the day – the smooth, fluid game of Spaniard Alberto Martin met the hard, flat groundstrokes of Italy’s number three player Andreas Seppi. Both players are baseliners - but that’s where their game similarities end.

It’s like comparing a fine surgical knife to a machete: Martin’s stylish blend of one-handed backhand rippers and finely crafted slices that float to the baseline – against Seppi’s consistent, grinding groundstrokes.

Martin won the first set 6-4 by changing up the pace and keeping Seppi on his heels as much as possible. But in the second set – Martin said knew he had to step up his game. “It was a big fight and I think in the second set he was starting to play much better than in the beginning of the match,” Martin said. “When I was a break up, he started to play much better, and that was difficult for me. I did some double faults because I was a little tentative – and I knew I would have to play more aggressive, or if not I was not going to win this match.”

In the second set tiebreak, Martin was going for his shots, hitting out with greater pace and aiming for the lines. Seppi was serving well and still pounding his groundies, but Martin’s mix of topspin and aggression won him the match in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(5).

About playing No. 2 seed Dmitry Tursunov in the final tomorrow, Martin said, “He’s a great player, he hits the ball hard, and it’s going to be a tough match but I’m very happy to be in the final and I’m going to do my best to win.”

Tursunov and Martin have never played each other in an ATP tour or Grand Slam event. Tursunov is ranked No. 50 and Martin is currently No. 60. After today's three tiebreaker sets - Tursunov plays in both the singles and doubles final Sunday. The action starts at 1:00 pm.