Erik Gudris/ Friday, September 27, 2013
Defending champion Richard Gasquet fought past Mikhail Youzhny to reach the Thailand Open semis.
Tomas Berdych and Gilles Simon also advanced.
Photo Source: Getty
France's Richard Gasquet kept his hopes alive for defending his Thailand Open title by advancing into Saturday’s semifinals with a three-set wins over Russia's Mikhail Youzhny.
Gasquet, after trading early breaks with Youzhny in their quarterfinal, found himself on the losing end of the first set when the Russian claimed it 7-5.
But Gasquet improved his form to eventually take the second set 6-3. Gasquet then saved all five break points against him the third set to soon wrap up the 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win.
Fresh off of his U.S. Open semifinal run, Gasquet is looking to do well this week in Bangkok in order to keep his hopes alive of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Gasquet will next face No. 3 seed Milos Raonic, who took out Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3. The Frenchman last beat Raonic in a five-set battle in the fourth round of New York earlier this month.
Berdych Into Semis; Faces Gilles Simon
Top seed Tomas Berdych is still seeking his first title of the season. He's hoping Bangkok will be it as he reached the semis earlier in the day.
Taking on Yen-Hsun Lu, Berdych cracked 20 aces en route to winning 7-6(7), 6-4 in just under two hours.
Waiting for Berdych next will be France's Gilles Simon. Simon was forced to battle in his quarterfinal against Igor Sijsling before winning 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
Simon, last year's finalist in Bangkok, leads the overall head to head versus Berdych 5-2. Their last meeting was in Bercy back in 2012.
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