A semifinal lineup features one surprise in the form of Dmitry Tursunov. Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Gilles Simon round out Saturday’s proceedings.
(3) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (5) Gilles Simon
It will be an all-French affair when Tsonga and Simon do battle for the seventh time in their careers at the ATP level during semifinal action at the Open 13 on Saturday. Tsonga leads the head-to-head series 4-2, including 4-0 on hard courts and 1-0 indoors. Their most recent encounter came last season on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo, where Simon prevailed 7-5, 6-4. Both of Simon’s victories over Tsonga have come on the slow stuff.
The two countrymen are in solid albeit unspectacular form to begin their years. Tsonga owns a 7-2 record following wins over Nikolay Davydenko and Bernard Tomic. A Friday thriller against the Aussie saw Tsonga save five match points before winning 12-10 in a third-set tiebreaker. Simon is 11-4 for the season after taking out Robin Haase, Roberto Bautista-Agut, and second-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro all in straight sets.
The world No. 13 has a real shot at the upset based on his current level of play and because he has been cruising this week in Marseille while Tsonga has done nothing of the sort. On anything other than an indoor hard court or grass, Simon would be the pick. However, past history is too much in favor of Tsonga on this surface.
Pick: Tsonga in 3
(1) Tomas Berdych vs. (Q) Dmitry Tursunov
Berdych and Tursunov will be squaring off for the seventh time in their careers on Saturday in Memphis. The head-to-head series stands at 5-1 in Berdych’s favor and all six of their previous encounters have come on hard courts. Four have gone to a decisive final set. They most recently faced each other two years ago in Rotterdam, where Berdych prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
An injury-plagued Tursunov is enjoying his best week on tour in recent memory. The veteran Russian won three qualifying matches to get into the main draw and since then he has dismissed Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Janko Tipsarevic, and Gilles Muller. Berdych earned a first-round bye as the top seed before holding off big hitters Ernests Gulbis and Jerzy Janowicz both in three sets. The sixth-ranked Czech is 9-2 for his 2013 campaign.
Tursunov is always dangerous on this surface because of his power game, but this is a big step up in competition (Tipsarevic is no pushover, but to call him rusty right now would be an understatement). Furthermore, Tursunov admitted to being tired during and after his hard-fought win over Muller. Count on Berdych getting the job done without too much trouble.
Pick: Berdych in 2
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