Associated Press

San jose, February 13:

Cyril Saulnier exploited Jurgen Melzer’s injured ankle, rallying from a set down by steadily slicing groundstrokes and prevailing 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 in the SAP Open to reach his first ATP career final.

Melzer was in control of the match until he sprained his ankle in the second game of the second set when he lunged for a forehand volley winner by Saulnier that was hit at a sharp angle.

The Austrian called for a trainer, who wrapped him up, but he struggled to cover the court, despite his gutsy effort to chase down many tough shots that made him the fan favourite in the 2-hour, 8-minute match.

The 29-year-old Saulnier, ranked 55th, had been 0-for-4 in previous semi-final appearances and beat Melzer for the third time. The Frenchman played in his first ATP semi-final since losing in Los Angeles to Tommy Haas last year, and this win will propel him into the top-50 in next week’s ATP rankings for the first time.

Melzer, ranked 36th, ousted second-seeded and five-time Bay Area champion Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-1 in 59 minutes in quarter-finals.

Defending champion and top-seeded Andy Roddick was set to play third-seeded Haas in the evening session. Roddick needed a hard-fought 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 quarter-final win on Thomas Enqvist to advance.

ATP Buenos Aires:

BUENOS AIRES: Second-seeded Gaston Gaudio took his expected place in an-all Argentine final at the ATP Buenos Aires, easily beating Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday.

Gaudio will face Mariano Puerta, who beat Argentine compatriot Jose Acasuso 6-4, 7-6 in the first semi-final for his second upset at the $380,000 event.

Martin, ranked 68th by the ATP Tour, put up stronger-than-expected resistance against the world 10th-rated Gaudio, who was supported by the crowd of 6,000.

The French Open champion prevailed with fewer errors in a match featuring long baseline rallies, scoring two service breaks in the first set with shots into the corners. Martin occasionally troubled Gaudio with a strong backhand though blustery winds on a hot South American summer day. But unforced errors finally cost the Spaniard, who was broken in the fifth game of the second set.

Open 13:

MARSEILLE: Third-seeded Joachim Johansson of Sweden beat No 8 Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 7-5, 6-4 to win the Open 13 tournament on Sunday.

Johansson, 22, won his third ATP career title, following wins at Memphis last year and Adelaide in January. Ljubicic lost his second final of 2005 after world No 1 Roger Federer beat him in Doha in January. His only ATP career title was at Lyon in 2001.

Johansson laboured to a 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 win over No 6 Feliciano Lopez of Spain to set up a final clash with No 8 Ivan Ljubicic, who beat countryman Mario Ancic 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in semis. This was Ljubicic’s second final of the year.

Open Gaz de France:

PARIS: Dinara Safina of Russia beat second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to win the Open Gaz de France.

Safina, the sister of two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin, clinched her third WTA career title following wins at Palermo in 2003 and Sopot in 2002.

Mauresmo, a winner in 2001, finished runner-up at Gaz de France for the third time and missed out on her 16th WTA career title. Safina, 18, took home a winner’s purse of $93,000 while Mauresmo received $49,500.

At 2-1 down and serving in the decider, Mauresmo saved one break point but then hit a wild forehand long to hand the initiative to Safina — who cruised to 5-1 up. Mauresmo rallied, breaking Safina to love and holding easily to claw back to 5-3. But, serving for the match, Safina went 40-15 ahead and clinched the title.