TENNIS in DEPTH.

German Tommy Haas withdrew for the second straight week from an ATP event, pulling out before his Stockholm Open second round against Finn Jarkko Nieminen Thursday. Haas, seeded second, cited influenza as the reason for failing to take the court against Nieminen, who underwent wrist surgery this season and then missed several weeks after the US Open with a virus.

Haas quit in the second round of last week’s Shanghai Masters trailing 6-4 against fellow German Rainer Schuettler, stopping play as a precaution due to shoulder pain.

Haas also withdrew at mid-match in the Montreal second round in August against Fernando Gonzalez.

The match against Nieminen would have been the first for Haas against the 120th-ranked Finn since 2002. The walkover loss leaves Haas on 31-17 this season

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Finnish left-hander Jarkko Nieminen has upset top seed Novak Djokovic to book a date with David Nalbandian in the final of the Medibank International Sydney.

Nieminen – and the blustery conditions – frustrated an error-prone Djokovic, who was below his best in the quarter final match. The Finn, who benefited from a walkover on Wednesday night when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withdrew from their quarter final, defeated the Serb 6-4 7-6(3).

It was the first time Nieminen had scored a victory over Djokovic, who before today

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