Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic made it to the semifinals of
the Thailand Open tennis tournament with a straight sets win over
Ivo Karlovic from Russia.
The Thailand Open which officially kicked off Tuesday and will
last until Sunday at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani near Bangkok,
has been stricken with a string of injuries and last-minute
withdrawals by top stars as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy
Roddick, the top three seeds for the event.
Berdych, ranked No. 10 in the world, beat seven-seeded Karlovic
7-5, 6-4.
German Benjamin Becker overcame compatriot and good friend
Dominik Meffert 7-6 (7-2), 7-5.
The world No. 79 Becker is to play Berdych in Saturday's
semi-finals.
Six-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov defeated Wang Yeu-tzuoo from
Chinese Taipei 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Tursunov is to face eighth-seeded
Fernando Verdasco from Spain.
The annual Thailand Open, offering a prize money of a total
US$550,000, is the only ATP tour event in Southeast Asia.
(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2007)