France’s Gael Monfils, returning to tennis after an injury layoff, reached the semi-finals of the ATP Thailand Open yesteray with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) win over Jarkko Nieminen.
Monfils, who rested for nearly a month after exiting early at the US Open with a knee problem, set up a showdown with American surprise package Donald Young, who thumped Japan’s Go Soeda 6-1, 6-2.
World No. 9 Monfils had a much easier time than he did in his opening match, where he needed three sets to beat Santiago Giraldo.
Photo: Reuters
Nieminen romped into an early 3-0 lead before Monfils found his range, breaking back for 2-3 and taking the lead 4-3 with a second break, wrapping up the opening set in just under three-quarters of an hour.
The second set went to a tiebreak after the 30-year-old Finn saved a break point in the 11th game, with Monfils leading all the way in the decider before closing the door on his first of two match points.
Monfils won his only previous meeting with the 55th-ranked Young, beating him in 2008 in Cincinnati. The 22-year-old former American prodigy has failed to live up to his early promise.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s Andy Murray cruised past Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4.
? MALAYSIAN OPEN
AFP, KUALA LUMPUR
Unseeded Marcos Baghdatis faces second-seed Viktor Troicki for a place in the Malaysian Open final after both enjoyed straight sets wins yesterday.
Troicki, who helped Serbia to the Davis Cup title last year, booked his place in the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov. It was tougher for Baghdatis, who had to work for just under 90 minutes to upset Austrian fourth seed Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
In other action, Kei Nishikori rallied to defeat Nicolas Almagro 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-4, while Janko Tipsarevic beat Nikolay Davydenko.
Additional reporting by Staff writer
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