Creaking Simon comes through
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Favourite Berdych aims to break hoodoo in semi-final
Top seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic made his third straight semi-final in the US$567,530 ATP Thailand Open by ousting the tournament’s last Asian, Lu Yen-hsun, 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 in the quarter-finals yesterday.
The towering Czech, who made the semi-finals in Bangkok in 2007 and 2008, let slip a 4-1 lead in the first set before finishing it with an ace.
He capitalised on an early break in the second set, which was enough to send him through to a showdown today against Frenchman Gilles Simon.
“Both sets were very tough. I had to be really concentrating in the match. Sometimes I was feeling like he was a Playstation [player]. He was there, he was so fast, he hit so many winners,” said world No 6 Berdych, who will be aiming to improve his humble 2-5 record and three-match losing streak against Simon.
“He’s an opponent I don’t have a positive record against. All of [our matches] were very close. I’m already in the semi-finals. I will keep going,” said Berdych who says being tournament favourite is a double-edged sword.
“I try to have positive thinking. Possibly you can have a better draw, not having to face one of the top players in an early round. But on the other hand, other [lower ranked] guys, they have nothing to lose. They can play their best against the top or second seeds.”
Simon, the 2009 winner, advanced to his fourth semi-final in the tournament after shrugging away a back injury to beat an inspired Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands yesterday.
The world No 14 needed two hours and 28 minutes to eliminate the 75th-ranked Sijsling 6-4 5-7 6-4 and extend his winning streak to seven matches in two weeks.
Simon, ranked 14th in the world, fought back from 1-3 down to take the opening set. After saving a series of break points, he eventually lost his serve in the 12th game when Sijsling unleashed an unstoppable backhand down the line to take the second set.
The Dutchman held the opening game of the third set, then Simon requested a trainer to treat his back pain. The treatment seemed to work, as the Frenchman went on to save several break points to draw level at three-all, then broke to go 4-3 with a forehand cross-court winner. Last week’s winner in Metz then closed out the match with an ace.
“He has very nice serves. He’s moving well. He has the ability to know where you are going play. He sees the game very well. I felt like I could have lost the two sets I won and I could have won the one I lost. It was very close every time,” said the 28-year-old Simon, who has been plagued with injuries for several years.
“I have ‘red lights’ everywhere [in my body]. I felt the pain very quickly in the second game of the match. I thought it would be complicated to finish the match at this point but finally I was getting better. My back is not in great shape now but I will have some treatment and I hope to be fine tomorrow.
“I will have to be 100 per cent if I want to win. I just hope that I can beat [Berdych] one more time.”
