Nieminen reaches quarterfinals at Swedish Open

Rallying from a set down to beat Lukas Dlouhy, Nieminen became the first player to reach the quarterfinals at the Swedish Open.

Jarkko Nieminen rallied from a set down to beat Lukas Dlouhy on Wednesday and became the first player to reach the quarterfinals at the Swedish Open.

HT Image

Nieminen won the second-round match 6-7 (2), 6-0, 6-3. The fourth-seeded Finn took control after losing the opening set 7-2 on a tiebreak. He won the second set in just 20 minutes, breaking the Czech's serve three times.

After losing nine straight games, Dlouhy finally held his serve to trail 3-1 in the decisive set. Nieminen needed only one match point to win.

In Friday's quarterfinal, Nieminen will play the winner between Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain and Oliver Marach of Austria.

"My confidence is good because I have played better this year," said Nieminen, who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals last week where he lost to Rafael Nadal.

"I've been steady on all surfaces, and adjusting from grass to clay was easier than I thought it would be."

Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden, who lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semifinals, was beaten 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 by Germany's Alexander Waske in a first-round match.

Also on Wednesday, top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko faces fellow Russian Yuri Schukin in the second-round, while 45-year-old Anders Jarryd was to make his comeback on the ATP Tour after a 10-year absence.

Nadal, the defending Swedish Open champion, withdrew from the tournament last week. The No. 2-ranked Spaniard, who lost the Wimbledon final to Federer, has won a record 60 matches on clay.