Gulbis, Benneteau set up Kuala Lumpur semifinal showdown

Julien Benneteau is a well-documented 0-9 lifetime in ATP finals. Two of his losses have come in the last two years at the Malaysian Open. Benneteau is now two wins away from his first title and one away from a third consecutive Kuala Lumpur final after getting past Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4 on Friday.The Frenchman led by a set and a break in the second only to eventually find himself trailing by a break in the third. Cuevas even had a break point to go two breaks up in the decider before Benneteau’s comeback.

“I hope I can make the final again,” Benneteau assured. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow. It will be difficult. But I will try to be back in the final again and play better.”

Next up for Benneteau is a fourth career meeting (third this season) with Ernests Gulbis, a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Benjamin Becker. Gulbis held all 11 of his service games and saved all three of the break points he faced to see off Becker in one hour and 18 minutes.

“Today was much better,” said Gulbis, who had needed three sets against Philipp Petzschner in his tournament opener. “When I broke [Becker] in the second set, I played three unbelievable points. I’m finding my game.”
Gulbis 2
The other semifinal will pit No. 1 seed Kei Nishikori against Jarkko Nieminen. Nishikori crushed Marinko Matosevic 6-3, 6-0, while Nieminen ousted seventh-seeded Pablo Andujar 6-3, 6-4.

Juan Monaco picked up one of his biggest victories of the year by upsetting No. 3 seed Richard Gasquet 7-6(7), 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen Open on Friday. Monaco’s reward is a date with second seed Andy Murray, who took care of Lukas Lacko 6-3, 7-5. Murray fought off all four of the break points he faced–three in the first set and one more in the second.
Monaco (vs. Stepanek in Cincinnati)
An all-seeded semifinal on Saturday will feature No. 4 Tommy Robredo and No. 6 Santiago Giraldo. Robredo needed two hours and 36 minutes to survive Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3. The Spaniard held all 16 of his service games while facing just a single break point. Giraldo dismissed qualifier Viktor Troicki 7-6(6), 6-3 despite firing only one ace to Troicki’s nine.

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