Gilles Simon beats 5th-seeded Tomas Berdych to reach Paris Masters semifinals

The Associated Press

PARIS - Gilles Simon fought back from 4-1 down in the second set to beat fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4 and seal a place in the Paris Masters semifinals on Friday.

The Frenchman broke Berdych in the fifth game of the first set, but the match looked certain to go to a third set when Berdych secured an early break in the second and raced to 4-1.

But Simon secured two successive breaks of serve as he pressured Berdych's backhand and clinched the match with an ace, after Berdych saved one match point with an excellent backhand volley at the net.

Simon plays eighth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic or Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz in the last four. Their quarterfinal was late Friday.