BANGKOK (AP)—Top-seeded Tomas Berdych and Gilles Simon of France will meet for the eighth time after both advanced to the semifinals of the Thailand Open on Friday.
Fresh from helping the Czech Republic beat Argentina in the Davis Cup semifinals, Berdych beat Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan 7-6 (7), 6-4 to maintain his record of never losing before the semifinals in Thailand. However, he hasn't advanced in his two previous appearances.
"Sometimes, I was feeling like he was a Playstation,'' Berdych said of Lu. "He was there. He was so fast. He hit so many winners.''
Simon, 5-2 against Berdych, said, "I just hope that I will beat him one more time.''
Simon said he was going to receive treatment on his back after he needed court-side help from a trainer after the first game of the third set against Igor Sisjling of the Netherlands.
After prevailing 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, the third-seeded Simon said it was a struggle to move on to the semifinals.
"I felt like I could have lost the two sets I won and I could have won the one I lost,'' he said. "It was a good win.''
Asked about the back injury, he said: "I have red lights everywhere. I felt the pain very quickly in the second game of the match. Then it was worse. I thought it would be hard to finish the match at this point but finally I was getting better. My back is not in great shape now but I hope I will be fine (Saturday).''