ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Tomas Berdych defeated Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 Thursday to reach the semifinals of the World Tennis Championships.
The sixth-ranked Czech will face Rafael Nadal, who along with Roger Federer received a bye in the semifinals of the exhibition.
Berdych got off to a strong start over the error-prone Baghdatis, taking a 3-1 lead on his way to winning the first set. The 20th-ranked Cypriot rallied in the second set, using several aces to even the match.
Berdych appeared to be coasting in the third, breaking Baghdatis in the sixth game on his way to a 5-2 lead. But Baghdatis again recovered, tying the match at 5-5 before Berdych took the final two games.
``It is the just the perfect start by playing matches like this one and then the next day to play the No. 1 player in the world,'' Berdych said.
Baghdatis said he was satisfied with his performance despite the loss.
This is my first match in two months and to play a top player is not easy,'' he said.But I am pretty happy with my performance, playing good tennis, moving well on court. There were some moments in the match that I played well.''