VALENCIA, Spain (AP)—Gilles Simon outlasted Nikolay Davydenko for a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 victory Friday to reach the semifinals of the Valencia Open.
Simon converted five of his six break points, including his only chance in the fifth game of the first set when the sixth-seeded Davydenko sent a crosscourt backhand wide. Simon saved all three break points he faced in the first set.
Both players struggled with their serve in the second, trading breaks three times before Davydenko prevailed in the tiebreaker.
But Simon broke for the last time to take a 4-2 lead in the third before sealing the win with a perfect forehand down the line after 2 hours, 29 minutes.
“It was really hard. Every time (I beat him) I just wonder how I do it because he’s always playing so good and you have to fight for every point,” the 52nd-ranked Simon said. “It was one of the best matches of the season for me.”
Simon meets lucky loser Marcel Granollers next after the Spanish player rallied from a terrible start to beat Juan Monaco 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“I will have to play a good match in the semifinal if I want to reach the final,” Simon said. “It will be hard because I ran a lot today.”
Monaco, who knocked out top-seeded Andy Murray, took advantage of Granoller’s poor service in the first set to lead 4-0.
But the 67th-ranked Granollers corrected his poor serve and broke his Argentine opponent in the seventh game of the second set to eventually even the match.
Granollers rallied from a 2-4 deficit in the third set to take the lead. Monaco saved the first match point he faced, but he then netted a forehand on the second.
“I was a little erratic at the start but I found my way little by little,” said Granollers, who evened his match record to 20-20 for the season.
Later Friday at the City of Arts and Sciences complex, Robin Soderling faces Gael Monfils and local favorite David Ferrer is set to play Potito Starace.