Berdych, Monfils reach Open Sud semis

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTPELLIER, France -- Tomas Berdych finished off Nicolas Mahut of France with his 14th ace in a 6-3, 6-4 victory Friday to reach the semifinals of the Open Sud de France.

The top-seeded Czech outplayed Mahut in the first set, hitting 18 winners and making only two unforced errors.

Mahut fought back in the second but double-faulted to give the 2010 Wimbledon finalist a 4-3 lead.

Berdych will next face Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who edged fourth-seeded Richard Gasquet 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Kohlschreiber hit 18 aces, taking a 3-0 lead in the final set to play his second semifinal this season after reaching the last four of the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, last month.

Meanwhile, second-seeded Gilles Simon outlasted French wild card Guillaume Rufin 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-2, and will meet compatriot and defending champion Gael Monfils, who cruised past Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 6-3.

Simon won the all-French match when a backhand from Rufin sailed long.

Rufin was let down by his serve in the final set, double-faulting five times and landing only 38 per cent of his first attempts.

Simon took the first-set tiebreaker on a forehand error from Rufin.

Rufin hit two consecutive forehand winners to lead 6-2 in the second tiebreaker and levelled at one set apiece when Simon netted a backhand.

The third-seeded Monfils broke serve twice to win the first set when Nieminen sent a backhand volley into the net.

Nieminen, who won the Sydney International last month, hit a forehand wide to trail 3-1 in the second set.

Monfils did not face any break points and clinched victory when Nieminen netted a backhand return.