Tomas Berdych cruises past Viktor Troicki; joins Gael Monfils in the semis – Gerry Weber Open 2011
Second seeded Czech Tomas Berdych crushed fifth seeded Serb Viktor Troicki by a 7-6(3), 6-1 win and third seeded French Gael Monfils eased past sixth seeded German Florian Mayer to advance into the last four of the Gerry Weber
Open, an ATP World Tour 250 series event held in Halle, Germany on Friday.
World number seven, Berdych took eighty-one minutes to slay the Serb, ranked five places below him, with a breadstick on their third meeting. The Czech displayed exceptional skills to earn a straight set victory at Gerry Weber
Stadion and took a lead in the head-to-head series by 2-1 against Troicki.
Both veterans put up a tough fight and played their best tennis in the opening set. They also produced a similar first serve share of 65 percent and smacked numerous aces. With their quick forehands and backhands, they pocketed
their entire serves superbly to force the set into a tiebreaker.
However, the Czech dominated in the tiebreaker to clinch the opener with a 7-6(3) win.
Berdych then raised the bar of his game in the second set and quickly reeled off his entire serves. Troicki was able to hold on to his serve once and as a result, the Czech earned a breadstick. Despite clobbering a lower first
sere share of 64 percent as compared to Serb’s 73 percent, he earned a remarkable 86 percent win on it. The Czech faced zero breakpoint and converted two out of five breakpoint opportunities to his advantage.
25-year-old Czech will next face German Philipp Petzschner who stunned eight seeded Canadian Milos Raonic in a three set thriller to reach this spot.
World number eight, Monfils will be joining Berdych in the semi-finals at this grass court event. He downed Mayer, ranked ten places below him in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, in straight sets in sixty-four
minutes. He won for the third straight time against the German and extended his lead in their head-to-head series by 3-0.
24-year-old Frenchman convincingly held his entire serves in the opening set and converted one out of two breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to seal the opener with a 6-4 score line.
Monfils got distracted on his way into the final set and lost his serve once. However, he roared back by converting both breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to clinch the final set with a similar 6-4 score line again.
The Frenchman produced a similar first serve share of 67 percent but registered an impressive 76 percent win on it. To spice it further, he smacked five aces to help win comfortably.
He also faces a German, Philipp Petzschner in the semis. Petzschner defeated the defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets to reach this spot.
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