Gilles Simon thrilled home fans by reaching the semifinals of the Paris Masters on Friday as he beat Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4.
The victory in just under two hours was the first of a possible three as a record number of Frenchman played in quarterfinals of the indoor event at the Bercy arena,
Simon has been making his own luck all week after starting out by beating former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis and then putting out lucky loser Victor Hanescu, who replaced absent top seed Roger Federer in the draw.
Berdych was been on a roll, winning 22 of his last 26 matches at the Masters event which he won in 2005. He has now lost to Simon in five of seven matches.
‘He was just too good today, he made no mistakes at all,’ said Berdych. ‘I lost to a better player today, he played well and deserved to win.’ Simon will next face Janko Tisparevic.
The victory in just under two hours was the first of a possible three as a record number of Frenchman played in quarterfinals of the indoor event at the Bercy arena,
Simon has been making his own luck all week after starting out by beating former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis and then putting out lucky loser Victor Hanescu, who replaced absent top seed Roger Federer in the draw.
Berdych was been on a roll, winning 22 of his last 26 matches at the Masters event which he won in 2005. He has now lost to Simon in five of seven matches.
‘He was just too good today, he made no mistakes at all,’ said Berdych. ‘I lost to a better player today, he played well and deserved to win.’ Simon will next face Janko Tisparevic.