New regime a winner for Rusedski

Greg Rusedski is reaping the rewards of his new coaching regime after beating world number two Marat Safin in the Milan Open.  

The Briton may have been under the wing of former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash for only eight weeks

But the never-say-die attitude of the Australian already appears to be rubbing off on his star student after he made the tournament's semi-finals.

His victory over Safin was almost as impressive as last month's Australian Open defeat of Champions Race winner Gustavo Kuerten, and he is now just two matches away from winning his first title since October 1999.

"Now I am healthy, I've improved my game and my serve," said Rusedski.

"I did a lot of work in November and December, and it shows that it paid off."

Sweeping through the first set before fighting back from a break down to claim the second, Rusedski won 6-0 7-6 (7/5) to set up his encounter with unfancied Frenchman Julien Boutter.

"He didn't play too well in the first set, so the second set was crucial," added Rusedski.

It was that fighting spirit which got him through the match, just as Safin appeared to be battling back.

The tournament's top seed broke to lead 2-1 in the second, but Rusedski rallied bravely to force a tie-break.

Again, he fell an early break down, before a run of four straight points put him in control.

But a net cord killed a baseline rally with Rusedski stranded up court, and Safin had been handed a lifeline as the tie-break went back on to serve.

But the Russian's attempted cross-court pass went wide to give Rusedski two match points.

He failed to take the first, on Safin's serve - but a searing ace down the middle on his own serve sealed victory.

Rusedski finished last season ranked a lowly 64th and is unseeded in Milan.

And despite being back to full fitness after struggling through the last campaign following an early-season foot operation, the big serving Brit is taking nothing for granted.

"It will be very tough," he said of the semi-final. "I think it will come down to who is serving best on the big points."