Simon bows out, Monfils defence stays on course

Gilles Simon - Cropped

Gilles Simon bowed out of his home tournament the Open Sud de France on Friday after a 6-2 7-5 defeat to Poland's Jerzy Janowicz.

The Nice-born world number 19 and second seed suffered a suprise defeat - his second in as many meetings with the Pole - having saved just one of five break points in the 76-minute encounter.

Janowicz, in contrast, saved three from four and hit six aces to progress to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since August.

"I played my best match of the season," Janowicz explained to the ATP's official website.

"I knew I had to play my best tennis because Gilles moves incredibly well on the court. He also reads the game so well and he's one of the best returners in the world.

"I knew I had to be focused on my serve all the time. I did that and I was playing aggressively throughout."

He will now face Joao Sousa in the last four after the Portuguese proved too strong for Philipp Kohlschreiber in a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 victory.

In the battle between the seventh and third seeds, Sousa threw away a 4-2 lead before taking the first set on a tie-break and gained two of the three breaks in the second to progress.

The semi on the other side of the draw sees defending champion Gael Monfils take on fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet after the pair won their respective quarter-final matches.

Monfils eventually ended the spirited campaign of qualifier Steve Darcis - the conqueror of Jarkko Nieminen - on Friday but was forced to fight back from a set down.

The pair have met twice before on the ATP Tour, with Monfils winning both, and the top seed recovered from a poor first set to win through 4-6 6-2 6-3 in an hour and 44 minutes.

Fourth seed Gasquet needed just over an hour to move past Denis Istomin - serving seven aces on his way to a fourth consecutive victory over the world number 61.

 

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