Associated Press

Delray Beach, February 5:

Vincent Spadea survived another three-set match on Friday to move into the semi-finals of the Delray Beach ATP Tour event. Spadea defeated fellow American Kevin Kim 7-5, 6-7, 6-4 — the second consecutive struggle for the tournament’s top seed. He needed three sets to oust Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili in the round of 16.

Spadea led Kim 5-2 in each of the first two sets, but allowed those cushions to slip away. He held on and broke Kim to end the opening set, but Kim survived two match points in the eighth game of the second set and cruised through a tiebreaker.

Kim took a 3-0 lead in the final set. Spadea, who’s aiming to become the first No 1 seed to win the title at this event, quickly regained momentum and won six of the final seven games.

Spadea will play Xavier Malisse of Belgium in the semi-finals. Malisse beat Ramon Delgado of Paraguay 6-2, 6-2 in Friday’s quarter-final.

Second-seeded Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic moved into the semi-finals with a 6-3, 7-5 win over No 7 Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark. Novak never faced a break point in the 75-minute match, and was taken to deuce in only two of his service games. Both players struggled in the windy conditions.

Novak’s semi-final opponent will be South Africa’s Wesley Moodie, who had the easiest path into the tournament’s final four. He had a 5-0 first-set lead in his quarter-final against Peter Wessels before the Dutchman retired with a back injury.

Lombardia Indoors:

MILAN: Fifth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden ended Ukrainian qualifier Sergyi Stakhovsky’s hopes at the Internazionali di Lombardia ATP indoor tournament, beating the 19-year-old 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals.

The hard-hitting 20-year-old Swede advanced to the final four of the $375,750 Milan indoor event along with No 2 Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia and fourth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic. Ljubicic struggled in the first set, failing to convert three set points, before sailing to a 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 win over No 7 Karol Beck of Slovakia.

Stepanek overcame fifth-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany 7-6, 4-6, 6-3.

Soderling, who will play Stepanek in Saturday’s semis, quickly dispatched Stakhovsky, the 2004 US open junior finalist who had eliminated third-seeded Mario Ancic in the second round for his best showing in an ATP main draw.

Volvo Women’s Open:

PATTAYA: Conchita Martinez advanced to the WTA Volvo Women’s Open final after Thailand’s tropical heat proved too much for Russia’s Evgenia Linetskaya. Third seeded Martinez will face Anna Lena Groenefeld of Germany in Sunday’s final after Linetskaya retired due to heat exhaustion with the Spaniard leading 6-2, 4-0.

Groenefeld, seeded seventh, overcame a shaky start to defeat No 8 Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Martinez created a variety of shots to counter the powerful groundstrokes from her 18 year old opponent, forcing a string of unforced errors.

With Martinez leading 1-0 in the second set, Linetskaya called for a trainer and went back to a locker room for a treatment. The Russian returned to the court and quickly lost the next three games before calling it quits.

BellSouth Open:

VINA DEL MAR: Top seed and French Open champion Gaston Gaudio defeated fellow Argentine Jose Acasuso 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the BellSouth

ATP tournament. Gaudio will meet David Ferrer of Spain in the semi-finals of the $380,000 tournament after Ferrer beat Agustin Calleri of Argentina 6-1, 6-3.