ATP Tour

Gasquet only one of top seeds to fall in France

ESPN staff

February 3, 2012 « Brilliant Baltacha books Britain's qualification | Henderson will wait for Jones v Evans winner »

Tomas Berdych swatted aside his opponent © Getty Images

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The top three seeds at the Open Sud de France all breezed into the semi-finals of the tournament on Friday.

Tomas Berdych, Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon all enjoyed relatively straightforward victories in the end - although Phillip Kohlschreiber later sprung something of a surprise to dump fourth seed Richard Gasquet out of the competition and join the other three in the semi-finals.

Simon was the first man to reach the final four, the second seed needing a third set - albeit a relatively straightforward one - to finally see off compatriot Guillaume Rufin 7-6(5) 6-7(2) 6-2.

Top seed Berdych followed with a straightforward 6-3 6-4 triumph over Nicolas Mahut, before Monfils breezed past eighth seed Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 6-3 to set up a match against Simon and guarantee a Frenchman will be in Sunday's final.

That left one more spot to be fought over, and Kohlschreiber claimed it after wearing down Gasquet in an entertaining three-setter. Gasquet looked to be on the way to victory until he faded in the end, Kohlschreiber ultimately winning out 6-2 3-6 6-3.

Elsewhere, at the Zagreb indoors Lukas Lacko booked his place in the semi-finals with victory over seventh seed Robin Haase, 6-4 6-4.

Third seed Mikhail Youzhny then showed his resilience to overcome big-hitting Ivo Karlovic, winning two crucial tie-breaks to get through to the final four.

Youzhny dropped the second set as Karlovic's power wore him down, but bounced back when it mattered most to eventually clinch a 7-6(10) 3-6 7-6(6) success. Michael Berrer is also through after he beat Jurgen Melzer in three sets, as is Marcos Baghdatis - who won the final match of the day against Ivan Dodig 6-4 7-5.