PARIS: Gilles Simon fought back from 4-1 down in the second set to beat fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4 on Friday and advance to the Paris Masters semifinals.
The unseeded Simon, who reached the quarter-finals after Japanese Kei Nishikori withdrew with an ankle injury, had too much pace for Berdych in front of his home crowd.
The Frenchman broke Berdych in the fifth game of the first set, but the match looked certain to go to a third set when Berdych secured an early break in the second and raced to a 4-1 lead.
But Simon earned two straight break points as he pressured Berdych’s backhand and clinched the match with an ace, after Berdych saved one match point with an excellent backhand volley at the net.
Simon will play eighth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic or Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz in the last four.
Their quarterfinal was late Friday. (AP)
