Tennis: Muster made to work for place in final

Tennis: Muster made to work for place in final

The Austrian sixth-seed Thomas Muster struggled in his semi-final match of the Estoril Open to beat the Moroccan Karim Alami and advance to the final where he will take on the third-seed Spaniard Alberto Berasategui. Unseeded Alami, who eliminated the top and seventh seeds, came out strong taking the first set against the clay-court specialist Muster but appeared to lose his nerve in the second set. Muster found his rhythm in the second set and overpowered Akami in the final set, winning 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. The third-seed Alberto Berasategui devastated his fellow Spaniard and second- seed Carlos Moya giving away only two games in the whole match. Moya faded quickly in the 48-minute match allowing the world No 18 to win 6-1, 6- 1. The defending champion Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden upset second-seed Todd Woodbridge of Australia to move into the final of the Gold Flake Open in Madras. The fifth-seeded Tillstrom took less than an hour to outplay Woodbridge in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. Zimbabwe's Byron Black battled through to the final of the Hong Kong Open with a three-set win over Canada's Sebastien Lareau. Black saved three match points in a gruelling tussle which lasted two hours and 40 minutes before he won 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 at Hong Kong's Victoria Park Stadium. Black meets Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen in the final.