Richard Gasquet battles past Mikhail Youzhny in three sets on Friday in Bangkok. Next up for Gasquet is Milos Raonic, who rolled over Feliciano Lopez.
(2) Richard Gasquet d. (5) Mikhail Youzhny 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
Gasquet recovered from a set deficit to beat Youzhny in one hour and 54 minutes during quarterfinal action at the Thailand Open on Friday. The ninth-ranked Frenchman served well in the first set, but that was the only part of his game that worked. He broke his opponent just once even though Youzhny put in a disappointing 46 percent of his first deliveries. Youzhny earned two scalps of the Gasquet serve, including one at 6-5 to finish off the opener in style.
From there, however, the fifth-seeded Russian lost his way. He won fewer than half of both his first and second-serve points in set two and was broken three times. Gasquet added two more breaks in the third, which were more than enough because he dropped a mere two points in his four service games. Bangkok’s No. 2 seed closed out the proceedings with a love hold at 5-1 to book a semifinal meeting with Milos Raonic.
(3) Milos Raonic d. (6) Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3
Raonic turned in a dominant serving performance to take care of Lopez in just 58 minutes in Friday’s nightcap. The 11th-ranked Canadian made 86 percent of his first serves and he blasted 19 aces without double-faulting. Raonic lost a miniscule eight points in nine service games.
Lopez would have had to hold the entire way just to stay on level terms, but he did not come close. The sixth-seeded Spaniard was broken in the opening game of the match, again at 2-2 in the second, and once more in the final game at 3-5. Lopez wrapped up his effort with six aces and one double-fault.
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