Youzhny reaches St Petersburg semis

ST PETERSBURG, Oct 26 (Reuters) Russia's third seed Mikhail Youzhny reached the last four of the St Petersburg Open today when German Philipp Kohlschreiber retired from their quarter-final after losing the first set 6-4.

The seventh seed said he was feeling unwell.

''At the beginning I felt OK but towards the end of the first set I started feeling more and more tired,'' said Kohlschreiber. ''After I lost the first set I felt I didn't have much chance of winning so I decided to retire and not to get worse.'' Youzhny said Kohlschreiber's retirement did not diminish his first victory over the German in four matches.

''The win is a win no matter what,'' the Russian, who will face either Britain's second seed Andy Murray or fifth-seeded compatriot Dmitry Tursunov on Saturday, told reporters.

''I'm just glad to be in the semi-finals.'' Earlier, Spain's sixth seed Fernando Verdasco beat fourth-seeded Italian Potito Starace 6-3 6-4 and will next play the winner of the last quarter-final between Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

The 1 million dollar indoor tournament in Russia's second city has been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding top seed Nikolay Davydenko's shock defeat by Cilic on Thursday.

The ATP, the governing body of men's tennis, fined the Russian world number four ST PETERSBURG, Oct 26 (Reuters) Russia's third seed Mikhail Youzhny reached the last four of the St Petersburg Open today when German Philipp Kohlschreiber retired from their quarter-final after losing the first set 6-4.

The seventh seed said he was feeling unwell.

''At the beginning I felt OK but towards the end of the first set I started feeling more and more tired,'' said Kohlschreiber. ''After I lost the first set I felt I didn't have much chance of winning so I decided to retire and not to get worse.'' Youzhny said Kohlschreiber's retirement did not diminish his first victory over the German in four matches.

''The win is a win no matter what,'' the Russian, who will face either Britain's second seed Andy Murray or fifth-seeded compatriot Dmitry Tursunov on Saturday, told reporters.

''I'm just glad to be in the semi-finals.'' Earlier, Spain's sixth seed Fernando Verdasco beat fourth-seeded Italian Potito Starace 6-3 6-4 and will next play the winner of the last quarter-final between Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

The 1 million dollar indoor tournament in Russia's second city has been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding top seed Nikolay Davydenko's shock defeat by Cilic on Thursday.

The ATP, the governing body of men's tennis, fined the Russian world number four $2,000 for lack of effort during his second-round match.

REUTERS PDS AS2133 ,000 for lack of effort during his second-round match.

REUTERS PDS AS2133