<p class="title">Gilles Simon staged a dramatic comeback to knock out top seed Marin Cilic and set up the title clash with second seed Kevin Anderson, who prevailed in an excruciating battle against a spirited Benoit Paire at Tata Open Maharashtra, here on Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a sensational turnaround, the unseeded Frenchman toppled the world number six from Croatia 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a gripping semifinal in one hour and 51 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Anderson, the US Open finalist, rallied to edge out Paire 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-1 in two hours and 19 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Paire struggled with cramps in his right leg in the deciding set and Anderson, who fired 26 aces, pulled away with an easy break of serve.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Paire got the crowd involved with him, several time gesturing towards fans to cheer for him.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Cilic, with an intimidating 66 frame, was ruthless in the beginning but Simon, using his wealth of experience, effortlessly changed the complexion of the game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Simon's consistent returns, even on the powerful serves of Cilic, unsettled the Croat, who started to make unforced errors and could never recover.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was controlling the match with his powerful serve but started to struggle in putting his first serve in, which cost him as the match progressed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Simon came to the match with a superior 4-1 head-to-head record against Cilic and improved it further. They last played in 2016 at the Miami Masters, where Simon won in a three- setter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the men's doubles, the Indian pair of Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan bowed out of the competition after going down 4-6, 6-7 (2) to the French duo of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Gilles Simon in the semifinals.</p>
<p class="title">Gilles Simon staged a dramatic comeback to knock out top seed Marin Cilic and set up the title clash with second seed Kevin Anderson, who prevailed in an excruciating battle against a spirited Benoit Paire at Tata Open Maharashtra, here on Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In a sensational turnaround, the unseeded Frenchman toppled the world number six from Croatia 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a gripping semifinal in one hour and 51 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Anderson, the US Open finalist, rallied to edge out Paire 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-1 in two hours and 19 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Paire struggled with cramps in his right leg in the deciding set and Anderson, who fired 26 aces, pulled away with an easy break of serve.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Paire got the crowd involved with him, several time gesturing towards fans to cheer for him.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Cilic, with an intimidating 66 frame, was ruthless in the beginning but Simon, using his wealth of experience, effortlessly changed the complexion of the game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Simon's consistent returns, even on the powerful serves of Cilic, unsettled the Croat, who started to make unforced errors and could never recover.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was controlling the match with his powerful serve but started to struggle in putting his first serve in, which cost him as the match progressed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Simon came to the match with a superior 4-1 head-to-head record against Cilic and improved it further. They last played in 2016 at the Miami Masters, where Simon won in a three- setter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the men's doubles, the Indian pair of Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan bowed out of the competition after going down 4-6, 6-7 (2) to the French duo of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Gilles Simon in the semifinals.</p>