TENNIS ROTTERDAM – Defending champion and seed number 3 Tomas Berdych beat Gael Monfils 6-1 6-4 in the first quarter final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam to advance to the semifinals. Andy Murray crashed out against Giles Simon. Stan Wawrinka set up a semifinal against Milos Raonic with a 7-6 6-3 win over Giles Muller. Raonic rallied from a set down to edge Sergiy Stakhovsky 2-6 6-3 6-4. Diego Sampaolo
Berdych got two breaks of serve and did not face any break points to win the first set with 6-1 in just 22 minutes.
In the third game of the second set Monfils drew level to 30-30 with his second serve and volley and went up 40-30 with his forehand passing shot. Berdych won three consecutive points to get the break for 2-1. In the fourth game Berdych went down 15-30 on his serve but he drew level to 40-all with two first serves before holding his serve with a forehand and a first-serve winner.
Berdych fell heavily in the third game of the second set but this did not stop the Czech from closing out the match in one hour and eleven minutes.
In the sixth game Berdych went up 4-2 0-40 on Monfils’ serve but the Frenchman drew level to 40-all before holding his serve for 3-4. Berdych hit two aces to win the eighth game to pull away to 5-3. Berdych earned the match point with a down-the-line backhand passing shot winner but he did not convert it as he sent his forehand into the net. He brought up two more break points at 5-4 before closing out the match at the first opportunity.
Berdych, who won the Rotterdam title last year beating Marin Cilic in the final, extended his win-loss record to 4-1 over Monfils. The Czech is continuing his strong start to his season in which he finished runner-up to David Ferrer in Doha, reached the semifinal at the Australian Open after breaking a 17-match losing streak against Rafa Nadal in the quarter final.
In Saturday’s semifinal Berdych will take on Frenchman Giles Simon who upset Andy Murray in straight sets with 6-4 6-2. Simon converted on all his two break point chances in the first game and in the fifth game of the first set to open up a 5-1 lead. Murray played more aggressively and broke back to claw his way back to 4-5. Simon closed out the first set with 6-4 with a forehand winner.
At the start of the second set Simon went up 30-15 on Murray’s serve after a 20-shot rally and 40-15 after Murray hit his forehand into the net and got the break. After holding serve in the second game Simon got the double break and opened up a 4-0 lead. Murray held serve to 30 before breaking back in the sixth game for 2-4. Murray saved two match points in the eighth game but he made too many errors on his first serve in the second set and dropped serve again to trail 2-5. Simon closed out on his third match point. Murray dropped five of his nine service games during the match. Murray lost in the quarter final in Rotterdam for the second consecutive year. Last year he was beaten by Marin Cilic.
Simon boasts a win-loss record of 6-3 in his previous head-to-head matches against Berdych.
Stan Wawrinka, who was forced to the third set in the previous two matches, overcame Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller in straight sets with 7-6 (7-3) 6-3. Wawrinka did not convert on his only break point chance in the fifth game before winning the first set at the tie-break with 7-3. In the first set he won 28 of his 29 service points. The Lausanne player dropped only one point on his serve in the first set at 2-0 in the tie-break. Muller got an early break in the second set but Wawrinka broke straight back. Muller earned another break point in the third game but Wawrinka saved it. The 2014 Australian Open champion broke serve in the sixth game to open up a 4-2 lead before winning a service game to love with consecutive aces after 80 minutes.
Wawrinka set up a semifinal match against Milos Raonic who fought back from a set down to battle past Sergiy Stakhovsky with a 2-6 6-3 6-4 win after 93 minutes. Raonic fended off three of the five break points he faced.
