Injured Haas hangs on

Tommy Haas is on course to retain his title

Friday's results

Defending champion Tommy Haas rallied from a set down for the third consecutive match to reach the semi-finals of the TD Waterhouse Cup.

Haas overcame a poor start to beat Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 3-6 6-4 6-2 on Long Island on Friday night.

The German has been battling a shoulder injury all week but pulled through against an opponent playing his second match of the day.

Nieminen had begun the morning by resuming his rain-affected match against Brazilian Flavio Saretta at 1-3.

If the arm feels like this tomorrow, there is no way I can play

Tommy Haas

He went on to win 2-6 6-3 6-4 but could not repeat the effort in the evening.

The cause of Haas's problem is unclear but he fears that his shoulder may not hold out for the weekend.

"Sometimes it ís worse than others and sometimes it goes away after a few points and I feel nothing," the top seed said.

"But if the arm feels like this tomorrow, there is no way I can play."

Haas will face the unseeded Paradorn Srichaphan in the last four after the Thai player sprung a surprise in the last quarter-final.

Srichaphan upset fourth-seeded Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco 5-7 6-3 6-4 to record his ninth victory in his last 10 matches.

Corretja battles back

In the other quarter-finals, Spanish fifth seed Alex Corretja progressed when his French opponent, Paul-Henri Mathieu, retired with blisters on his left foot while trailing 2-5 in the first set.

Corretja's semi-final opponent will be Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina.

The seventh seed defeated American Mardy Fish 7-5 6-3.

Chela trailed 1-3 in the second set but won five consecutive games to close out the match.

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Friday's results

Quarter-finals
P Srichaphan (Tha) bt (4) Y El Aynaoui (Mor) 5-7 6-3 6-4
(1)T Haas (Ger) bt (11) J Nieminen (Fin) 3-6 6-4 6-2
(5) A Corretja (Spa) bt P-H Mathieu (Fra) 5-2 retired
(7) JI Chela (Arg) bt M Fish (USA) 7-5 6-3

Third round
(11) J Nieminen (Fin) bt F Saretta (Bral) 2-6 6-3 6-4

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