Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet reach Metz semi-finals
Former world number six Gilles Simon powered his way into his first ATP World Tour semi-final in the past eleven months, beating Belgian tennis opponent Xavier Malisse in three sets at the Open de Moselle on Friday with a 7-5, 4-6 and 6-1 victory.
The Frenchman prevented 7 of his 8 break points and won 84% of the points on his opening serve to seal victory in less than 2 hours on Friday. After losing the second set, Gilles raced through the final, breaking the serve on two occasions and allowing Xavier
with just five points.
"Feels great to be in the semi-finals. To win three matches in a row hasn’t happened in a long time, so it’s a good feeling. I feel that my confidence is coming back. Today, I didn’t play my best tennis, in the first two sets, I was very irregular, making
a lot of mistakes and I logically lost the second set. In the third set I told myself not to give any free points away and I fought and ran. My objective was to win no matter what and even if it was ugly,” said the French tennis player on Friday.
The 25-year-old Gilles, who recently became a dad, previously reached an ATP World Tour semi-final in Lyon where he was defeated by Frenchman Michaël Llodra back in 2009. He was restricted to only a total of four ATP World Tour Championships through the
first 6 months of the year as a result of his knee injury and has compiled an 11-12 record in the season.
In other action, top seeded Marin Cilic, who is currently ranked number 14 in the world, failed to boost his bid for a Barclays ATP World Tour Finals spot as he was toppled by his sixth seeded tennis foe Philipp Kohlschreiber in two sets. The final match
score was 6-4, 6-1.
Philipp improved his head-to-head record to 4-2 against the Croatian as he prevented all four break points on the serve and capitalised on a total of 3 of his 7 chances.
"It went really well for me today. The beginning of the match was tricky but after it went really well. Even if I come from playing the Davis Cup in outdoor clay, I adapted well and quickly to this surface which I like a lot. I really like to play here,
that’s why I always come back," said Philipp on Friday.
He as a result of this victory is slated to take on Gilles Simon whom he lost in a total of five sets during the second round of the year’s final Grand Slam, the United States Open tennis tournament after grabbing a 2-1 lead.
When asked about his next clash with Simon, the world number 14 said that he is completely aware of the fact that his next match is going to be a tough one and he will have to fight really hard to win it against Gilles.
Meanwhile, third seeded tennis ace Richard Gasquet registered his name as the second French tennis player to make his way into the semi-final as he won against Tommy Robredo in two sets on Friday. The match ended with a score of7-6(3) and 7-6(5) in a time
period of 1 hour and 56 minutes in Metz.
Seventh seeded Robredo won his last seven clashes in Metz, beginning with his successful trophy campaign back in 2007.
Former world number seven, Richard Gasquet also advanced to the semi-final back in 2009 in Metz before falling to compatriot Gael Monfils in straight sets. The 24-year-old player has so far captured a total of two trophies on home soil, back in 2006 at Lyon
and earlier this season in Nice.
Zverev continued his fine run at the Open de Moselle with a two setter win over Jarkko Nieminen to make his way into his second ATP World Tour semi-final of the year. The final match score was 7-6(0) and 6-3. The match concluded in a time period of 79 minutes
on Friday.
Tags: