Tennis

Published 4:00 am Friday, December 31, 2010

• Berdych, Soderling into Abu Dhabi semis: Tomas Berdych defeated Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 Thursday to set up a semifinal with top-ranked Rafael Nadal at the World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Robin Soderling stopped Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 and will face No. 2 Roger Federer. Nadal and Federer received byes into the semifinals of the exhibition.

• German tennis player Nicolas Kiefer retires: Nicolas Kiefer retired from tennis Thursday after a career in which the German reached a No. 4 ranking and the semifinals of the 2006 Australian Open. The 33-year-old Kiefer said on his website he wants to spend more time with daughter Mabelle Emilienne, who was born in August. Kiefer won six tournaments during his career and ascended to the No. 4 ranking in 2000.