Simon stops Monfils to meet Tipsarevic in semis

BANGKOK: Gilles Simon reached the semifinals of the Thailand Open 6-4, 6-1 yesterday as he defeated fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils, who was feeling the strain after missing four months with injury.
The fourth seed who won the 2009 edition, will play a semifinal against top seed Janko Tipsarevic after the ATP No. 9 beat Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Tipsarevic won five straight points in the opening-set tiebreaker from 2-5 down to take the set to start his push to victory.
“Today it was another battle from the baseline, he made me suffer and ran me around the court,” said the Serb, bidding for a place in the eight-man year-end final in London from Nov. 5.
“It was a really tough match. Every time I play Fernando, he makes me work, we never have easy matches. He likes to hit his forehand big.” Simon, who split amicably this week with longtime coach Thierry Tulasne, was watched by his mentor of almost six years in the quarterfinal at the Impact arena.
Simon has decided to go it alone without a coach in the hopes he can jolt himself into improving his longstanding ranking, which has stalled inside the ATP top 20.
Simon, who had complained that a shoulder problem had been bothering his serve, said that playing the flamboyant Monfils was always a challenge.
“I tried to just focus on my game,” said Simon, who played his seventh quarterfinal of the season. “I have my own problems so I wasn’t paying that much attention to him.
“I just tried to do my best on court, as always,” he said of the 84-minute win in which he broke Monfils five times. “I’ve known Gael for such a long time.
“He tries everything to win, but I was strong enough to beat him. It was tough, but I played him the right way.” Monfils admitted he was far from his best as he returns for only the second week following a four-month pause with an injury to his knee.
Nishikori in last four
In Kuala Lumpur, Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko retired from his Malaysian Open quarterfinal against Kei Nishikori yesterday after suffering a muscle injury in his left leg.
The former world No. 3 and winner of the inaugural Malaysian Open in 2009 had lost the first set against the third seeded Japanese 6-4 before calling it quits.
Davydenko, who has dropped to No. 44 in the world, first pulled up injured in the eighth game of the first set. He called for a medical time-out and only played another two games before losing that set.
He then decided to quit the tournament, handing Nishikori a semifinal berth. In the semis, the 22-year-old, who at No. 17 is the highest ranked Asian in the world, will meet second seed Juan Monaco of Argentina.
In an earlier match, world No. 11 Monaco easily defeated Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 6-4.
Seventh seed Julien Benneteau of France also smashed Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-2, 6-2.
Friday’s last quarterfinal will see world No. 5 and top seed David Ferrer of Spain play against Dutchman Igor Sijsling.