Baghdatis suffers injury scare in Sydney loss

SYDNEY, Jan 11 (Reuters) Marcos Baghdatis suffered an injury scare in his 6-1 3-6 7-6 loss to Carlos Moya at the Sydney International today but said he expected to play in next week's Australian Open.

The charismatic Cypriot collapsed in pain after twisting his ankle in the deciding third set and immediately called for a medical timeout to have the injury treated.

A relieved Baghdatis was able to resume playing after the pain quickly subsided and he was cleared of any serious damage but lost the match in a third set tiebreaker.

''I got scared in the beginning. I thought I twisted a tendon behind the left ankle,'' said Baghdatis, a finalist at last year's Australian Open.

''But then it went up to the calf and slowly, slowly it was getting better and better.

''I'm disappointed because I lost, of course, but I'm pretty happy with the way I'm playing. I guess I'm ready for Melbourne and that is the most positive thing.'' CLOSE SHAVES Moya, who reached the Sydney final three years ago but was forced to retire after twisting his ankle, thinks luck may be on his side this time after he survived three close shaves.

The former world number one won two tiebreaks in his first round win over Australian wildcard Luke Bourgeois and another in his second-round victory over fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

He will play Richard Gasquet or Paul-Henri Mathieu in Friday's semi-finals.

''I'm enjoying it right now and I'm winning all the tiebreaks,'' he said. ''I don't like being very close to losing but I think I played a great match when I had to do it.'' Third seed James Blake remained on course to successfully defend his title with an impressive 6-1 6-4 win over Russian teenager Evgeny Korolev.

The world number four showed off his full range of shots to book a semi-final spot with a routine victory over the cousin of former tour professional Anna Kournikova.

Korolev only got into the tournament as a lucky loser when Dmitry Tursunov injured his wrist in practice but came from behind to win his first two matches before losing to Blake.

The American was impressed by Korolev and grateful to wrap up victory in straight sets and save his energy for Melbourne.

''It was great to win in under an hour because he's a great talent and I know he's got a big future,'' Blake said.

''I definitely feel like I'm a better player than I was last year. I haven't had a long match yet to push me but I'm not complaining about that. These short ones are just great for me.'' Blake will play Juergen Melzer in tomorrow's semi-finals after the Austrian upset Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych 6-2 6-4.

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