Associated Press

Perth, January 7:

Daniela Hantuchova beat Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-2 on Friday and Dominik Hrbaty won his match when Peter Wessels retired hurt, allowing Slovakia to advance to the Hopman Cup final.

Slovakia, which won the Hopman Cup in 1998, will face Argentina in Saturday’s final. Argentina qualified for the final when Germany’s Tommy Haas retired hurt from his singles match and Germany later defaulted what would have been the deciding mixed doubles.

In the other match on Friday, the defending champion United States beat Australia 2-1. Alicia Molik opened with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Meghann Shaughnessy before James Blake tied it with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Paul Baccanello.

The Americans clinched the match with a 6-7, 7-5, 10-7 (super tiebreaker) win in mixed doubles. Baccanello was a replacement for Mark Philippoussis, whose groin injury forced him out of the tournament on Thursday. Australia was not eligible to advance to the final because of the injury replacement.

ASB Classic

AUCKLAND:

Top-seeded Amy Frazier of the United States beat Russia’s Tatiana Panova 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the ASB Women’s Tennis Classic. Fifth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France came from a set down to beat second-seeded Janette Jankovic of Serbia 3-6, 7-6, 6-1. Bartoli also made the semi-finals at Auckland in 2004. Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia will meet Bartoli in the semis after beating Israeli qualifier Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-4.

Qatar Open

DOHA:

Roger Federer beat No 7 seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-1, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the $1 million Qatar Open, his third straight-set victory in four days. The top-ranked Swiss, who extended his unbeaten streak to 20 matches dating back to August, needed only 53 minutes to dispatch Lopez. In semis, Federer — who has not lost since the second round of the Athens Olympics, will meet No 8 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia. Davydenko rallied from a set down to upset third seed Sebastien Grosjean of France 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. In the other semi-final, last year’s losing finalist Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia will play 2002 French Open champion Albert Costa of Spain. No 6 seed Ljubicic advanced by beating Spanish teen Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 while Costa was leading Fabrice Santoro 6-2, 3-0 when the Frenchman retired because of fatigue.

Aust’lian Hardcourt

ADELAIDE:

Sweden’s Joachim Johansson beat countryman Thomas Enqvist 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of the Australian men’s hardcourt tennis championships. Johansson will face Olivier Rochus of Belgium, who beat third-seeded Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 in another quarter-final. Fourth-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina defeated Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. In women’s section at Gold Coast, Australian Samantha Stosur advanced to her first WTA final with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 win over fifth-seeded Silvia Farina Elia of Italy. Farina Elia was scheduled to face top-seeded Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals before the Russian withdrew because of a back injury, giving the Italian player a walkover to the semi-final. Stosur will play second-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, who beat Russian-born Tatiana Golovin of France 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the other semi-final.