TENNIS/HOPMAN CUP: The United States edged out an injury-hit Serbia in a deciding mixed doubles to win a dramatic Hopman Cup final yesterday.

The US led 1-0 after Jelena Jankovic forfeited her singles against Serena Williams because of a leg injury.

World number three Novak Djokovic shrugged off fatigue to pull Serbia level with a battling 6-2 6-7 7-6 victory over Mardy Fish.

Jankovic returned for the mixed doubles but the US hit back from 4-1 down in the first set to win it 7-6 6-2 and clinch their fifth title.

"I had the best partner here," Fish said. "She has some great credentials and she played great."

Jankovic, who had been injured all week and had taken to the court with her right thigh heavily strapped, paid tribute to Djokovic for his effort.

"I want to thank my partner, who is a true champion and really a pleasure to play with," she said. "We wouldn't be in the final if he was not next to me. I owe it all to him."

u CHENNAI OPEN: World number two Rafael Nadal shrugged aside a long rain interruption to race into the Chennai Open semi-finals with a 6-3 6-2 win over his fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez yesterday.

Nadal next meets another compatriot, the third-seeded Carlos Moya, 31.

Former world number one Moya, who captured this trophy in 2004 and 2005, swept into his fifth Chennai semi with a 6-3 6-4 win over the unseeded Frenchman Florent Serra.

Nadal was 2-1 up in his match when rain started to fall and play did not resume for almost three-and-a-half hours. He wasted little time on the resumption, forcing frequent errors from Garcia-Lopez and serving out for the match around midnight.

In the other half of the draw, the holder, Xavier Malisse of Belgium, unseeded after an injury layoff in 2007, lost to the Russian fourth seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-4 6-4,

Youzhny will next meet Marin Cilic of Croatia, who beat Robin Haase of the Netherlands 4-6 6-2 6-3.

u ADELAIDE OPEN: Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt suffered a blow to his Australian Open preparations when he was beaten by Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International yesterday.

The top seed was overpowered 6-4 6-2 by Tsonga, who hammered 14 aces on his way to victory in 80 minutes.

World number 43 Tsonga beat Hewitt in their only previous meeting, at Queen's Club last June, and once the Frenchman had taken the first set, there was only one winner.

Tsonga broke to lead 3-1 in the second and Hewitt had no answer to his powerful all-court game, losing his serve again in the eighth game to hand Tsonga a place in the last four.

Tsonga now plays Finn Jarkko Nieminen, who needed two hours, 46 minutes to get past American Vince Spadea 7-6 6-7 7-6.

The other semi-final will be between Australian wildcard Joe Sirianni and the unseeded Frenchman Michael Llodra.

u QATAR OPEN: Unseeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka knocked out defending champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 7-6 6-4 to reach the Qatar Open final yesterday.

Wawrinka will face last year's beaten finalist Andy Murray in today's final after the Briton overcame top seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-4 6-3.

Ljubicic was bidding to reach a fourth straight final in Doha but could not get to grips with Wawrinka's strong serve.

"It is always tough to beat a big serving player like Ivan (Ljubicic). I am happy to have won against him for the first time," Wawrinka told reporters.

Murray trailed Davydenko 3-1 in the first set before finding his rhythm, controlling the game from the baseline by mixing aggression with caution.

Murray has lost twice to Wawrinka but is confident of a first win over the Swiss.

The Scot said, "I have practised a lot with him (Wawrinka). Hopefully my experience in playing a final should work in my favour."""

AUSTRALIAN HARDCOURT CHAMPIONSHIPS:China's Li Na continued her giant-killing run on Friday, beating fourth seed Patty Schnyder 3-6 6-3 7-5 to reach the final.

Schnyder had beaten former world number one Amélie Mauresmo in the previous round, but she was worn down as Li reached her first final in 20 months, where she will play Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

World number 29 Li had beaten top seed Nicole Vaidisova on her way to the last four but looked in trouble when she dropped the first set to Schnyder.

But the Chinese, who missed the second half of 2007 because of a stress fracture to her rib, hit back to level.

The third set contained nine breaks of serve but Li broke for 6-5 and then held her nerve to clinch victory after one hour, 48 minutes.

The 18-year-old Azarenka, ranked 30, upset the Israeli fifth seed, Shahar Peer, 6-4 6-2 to reach her third WTA Tour final.

AUCKLAND CLASSIC: Former world number one Lindsay Davenport reached her third final in four tournaments since her comeback as she beat Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-4 6-3 at the Auckland Classic.

The American, who returned to the tour in September after a year out in which she had her first child, hit 10 aces en route to victory.

In the final, Davenport will play unseeded Aravane Rezai of France, who ended the surprise run of the home wildcard Marina Erakovic 6-3 7-5.

Davenport dropped her first service game to sixth seed Paszek, but broke back in the sixth game and then broke again four games later to take the first set. She then eased through the second set to make it 17 wins out of 18 matches since her return.

"She's a great young player," Davenport said of Paszek.

"It was fun to play her. She plays differently from some of the other players I've played here this week."