<p>Having dropped just seven games in his previous two matches, the Czech had to slug it out during his 6-3, 6-3 win that lasted close to an hour and a half. Little did, however, Berdych realise the impending challenge when he built a 5-2 lead in the first set with a break of Slovakian’s serve, thanks to four double faults, in the fourth game. Serving for the set at 5-3, Berdych met with great resistance from Kavcic who had two break points, but two forehand errors denied him the chance of a comeback.<br /><br />The task, however, was just beginning to get tougher for Berdych, whose 2-1 lead was cancelled out in the fourth game. The two then traded breaks before Berdych held his serve in the eighth game and then broke his rival to clinch the set. “Some mistakes crept into my game at the beginning of the second set. Maybe I was forcing my shots a little too much, especially from the side playing with the wind. I needed to be a little bit more patient,” pointed out Berdych later.<br /><br />Berdych, in his last-four clash, will meet the winner of the match between third-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka and Netherlands’ Robin Haase, whose match was stopped due to rain late on Friday night. Wawrinka was involved in a lengthy pre-quarterfinal tussle with qualifier David Goffin of Belgium in a late night match on Thursday before emerging a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3) victor. <br /><br />Seventh-seeded Xavier Malisse, however, had a smooth entry into the semifinals, beating Bjorn Phau of Germany in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 in an outside court. The Belgian will take on Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia who ended Japanese youngster Kei Nishikori’s dream run with a 6-4, 6-4 win in an hour and 42 minutes.<br /><br />The sixth seed was happy to have come out in straight sets. “I knew that he had run a lot in his previous two matches so I was happy to get off to a good start and to finish the match in two sets. If it had gone to three sets, even if I had won, I would have been so much more tired for my match tomorrow. Now hopefully I’ll be fresh enough to win my next match,” he reasoned.<br /><br />Results: Singles (quarterfinals, prefix denotes seedings): 1-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Blaz Kavcic (Slo) 6-3, 6-3; 7-Xavier Malisse (Bel) bt Bjorn Phau (Ger) 6-0, 6-2; Janko Tipsarevic bt Kei Nishikori 6-0, 6-2.</p>
<p>Having dropped just seven games in his previous two matches, the Czech had to slug it out during his 6-3, 6-3 win that lasted close to an hour and a half. Little did, however, Berdych realise the impending challenge when he built a 5-2 lead in the first set with a break of Slovakian’s serve, thanks to four double faults, in the fourth game. Serving for the set at 5-3, Berdych met with great resistance from Kavcic who had two break points, but two forehand errors denied him the chance of a comeback.<br /><br />The task, however, was just beginning to get tougher for Berdych, whose 2-1 lead was cancelled out in the fourth game. The two then traded breaks before Berdych held his serve in the eighth game and then broke his rival to clinch the set. “Some mistakes crept into my game at the beginning of the second set. Maybe I was forcing my shots a little too much, especially from the side playing with the wind. I needed to be a little bit more patient,” pointed out Berdych later.<br /><br />Berdych, in his last-four clash, will meet the winner of the match between third-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka and Netherlands’ Robin Haase, whose match was stopped due to rain late on Friday night. Wawrinka was involved in a lengthy pre-quarterfinal tussle with qualifier David Goffin of Belgium in a late night match on Thursday before emerging a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3) victor. <br /><br />Seventh-seeded Xavier Malisse, however, had a smooth entry into the semifinals, beating Bjorn Phau of Germany in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 in an outside court. The Belgian will take on Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia who ended Japanese youngster Kei Nishikori’s dream run with a 6-4, 6-4 win in an hour and 42 minutes.<br /><br />The sixth seed was happy to have come out in straight sets. “I knew that he had run a lot in his previous two matches so I was happy to get off to a good start and to finish the match in two sets. If it had gone to three sets, even if I had won, I would have been so much more tired for my match tomorrow. Now hopefully I’ll be fresh enough to win my next match,” he reasoned.<br /><br />Results: Singles (quarterfinals, prefix denotes seedings): 1-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Blaz Kavcic (Slo) 6-3, 6-3; 7-Xavier Malisse (Bel) bt Bjorn Phau (Ger) 6-0, 6-2; Janko Tipsarevic bt Kei Nishikori 6-0, 6-2.</p>
