Rusedski's grit bodes well for Wimbledon

Greg Rusedski has made it abundantly clear he does not give two hoots about his fellow Britons' fortunes at Wimbledon. And he admitted last night that he has "never heard" of Jürgen Melzer, the Austrian qualifier who will be his first-round opponent in the SW19 showpiece. But tunnel vision has it rewards and they were reaped here yesterday.

The British No 2 made a stirring and steely comeback from a set and three games down to defeat Magnus Larsson of Sweden 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 to secure a place in today's Samsung Open semi-finals, where he faces another Swede, Jonas Bjorkman.

Larsson, ranked No 146 in the world in the tournament entry system to Rusedski's No 38, took the first set, winning the tie-break 7-4. He then broke Rusedski for a 3-0 lead in the second before the Briton rallied for 3-3. The second set also ended in a tie-break, the crucial point coming with Larsson serving at 4-3 down. Rusedski produced a superb backhand for 5-3. A return and a volley secured another mini-break for 6-3 and then an ace sealed the set. A break of serve in the sixth game of the decider gave Rusedski the cushion he needed to take the match.

"This is the sort of match I needed to come out and win in the run-up to Wimbledon," Rusedski said afterwards. "The turning point was definitely at 4-3 in the tie-breaker, that slice down the line. You can't replicate situations like this in practice, you need to win matches."

It has been a torrid week for Rusedski, not least because of claims in the former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash's autobiography that Rusedski defected to Britain from Canada purely for financial gain and that Rusedski has a "festering resentment" towards Tim Henman. Rusedski has maintained a steady "no comment" on the revelations.

After yesterday's win, he continued to focus solely on the task in hand. Asked about Melzer, Rusedski said: "I've never heard of him. I've no idea who he is... But I'm still here [in this tournament] at the moment and I need to focus on that. I still need some more matches."

Rusedski, who won in Nottingham in 1997 before going on to secure his best ever Wimbledon result (the quarter-finals), is now the highest seed remaining here. He is also the only Briton, after Arvind Parmar lost yesterday in three sets, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, to the big-hitting Middlesex-based Australian Wayne Arthurs.

The British No 5 started well against a man whose serve, especially on grass, is notoriously hard to break. Even at 4-5 down in the first set and with Arthurs having two break points and set points against him, Parmar held his nerve and his serve to draw level at 5-5. The set went to a tie-break which turned on a double fault by Arthurs at 2-2. Parmar then took three more points for 6-2, Arthurs served an ace for 6-3 but Parmar prevailed.

The second set quickly went Arthurs' way thanks to his consistent serving and an apparent dip in concentration by the Briton. The deciding set was effectively sealed with a break of serve by Arthurs in the opening game. Parmar did well to earn two break points to give himself a chance of getting back in the match – in the sixth and 10th games – but they went unconverted. Arthurs now faces Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland in the semi-final.

"I played a good match and it's been a good week overall," Parmar said afterwards. "I'll take a lot from that going into Wimbledon." Parmar faces Thomas Enqvist of Sweden in the first round in SW19.