Moselle Open: France's Gilles Simon beats compatriot Richard Gasquet in ninth attempt; Kei Nishikori enters semi-finals

Metz: Gilles Simon finally managed to beat his fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the ninth attempt with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, victory in the Metz quarter-finals on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_5239621” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Giles Simon. AFP[/caption] Kei Nishikori joined him in the last four, the Japanese top seed inflicting a battling 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 defeat on Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili. Aside from Gasquet winning every one of their eight previous encounters Simon arrived in Metz out of sorts, with only a US Open first-round win since reaching the last 16 at Wimbledon in July. The two-time Metz winner was more aggressive in the first set and broke to lead 4-2, but was unable to do the same when serving for the set at 5-4. In the tie-break, Gasquet, ranked 25th, took the first two points but Simon fought back to clinch the set in 59 minutes. He then rolled through the second set without too many problems and will face 107th ranked Moldovan Radu Albot in the last four. “It is very, very hard to win against a player you have never beaten, but I started well,” said Simon, ranked 39th in the world. “The tie-break in the first set was stressful but after that I played very well.”