Berdych and Simon into Semis at Bangkok

Gilles Simon continued his Metz-winning form in Bangkok by defeating Tomic in the 2nd round and today he beat Sijsling 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Sijsling was on a good run of form himself after defeating 7th seed Nieminen and then Haase 7-6 in the 3rd. It looks like Simon is beating all comers at this point but he will probably play #1 seed Berdych next who is a set and a break up in his quarter final match with Lu. Berdych would be his biggest test in the last couple of weeks.

In the bottom half of the draw in Bangkok all the seeds progressed to the quarter finals. Raonic was the only one who was really tested by Matosevic, prevailing 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 in the end. He will play Lopez today who he has a 1-1 head-to-head record with. The remaining quarter final between Youzhny and Gasquet promises to be a good one as well. Both very talented players with similar styles, both have classic one-handed backhands, and both were in superb form at the US Open.

The head-to-head is very close too, with Youzhny edging it 5-4 this year in Halle. The two have had some classic matches as well, with Youzhny winning both the big ones, 8-6 in the 5th in the 2007 Davis Cup encounter between Russia and France, and 6-4 in the 5th in the 2010 Australian Open 1st round after dropping the first two sets. Gasquet has never been known for his ability to win 5 set matches and has been known for being a choker.

But at this year's US Open he beat both Raonic and Ferrer in 5 sets, so credit to him for fighting to overcome that choker label. Anyway it should be an interesting match between him and Youzhny which will probably go to 3 sets. Calling a winner is difficult. As far as Kuala Lumpur goes Melzer defeated Del Bonis today and is the first into the semis. Ferrer will play Sousa today and there you would expect a win for Ferrer.

In the bottom half Tursonov had a routine win over Carreno-Busta and I watched a few points to see what this fast rising Spanish youngster brings to the table. I can't say I was particularly impressed. But there must be a reason why he is shooting up the rankings so fast so I will keep an eye on him. As far as Stan goes he beat Baggy 6-1, 7-5. A pretty convincing win for him in his first match and I am looking forward to see what he can do for the rest of the indoor season.

He is #8 in the race and with Murray out for the rest of the season he will surely qualify for his first Masters Cup. I think Gasquet will probably qualify too and Tsonga will just miss it. It's still a long way to go though and a lot can still happen. In the reaming quarter final of Kuala Lumpur Benneteau just routined his compatriot Mannarino 6-3, 6-3. Berdych has also finished his match, beating Lu 7-6(7), 6-4. Enjoy the rest of the action today!