Third seed Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic is now just a match away from equalling his finish at the Dubai Tennis Championships 2014 tournament after he advanced to the semifinals. Berdych defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday. Berdych was a finalist in this event last year where he lost to Novak Djokovic.
The Czech will next face Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany after the latter ended the run of wildcard Malek Jaziri in the quarterfinals. Kohlschreiber is aiming to improve on his 1-7 series record against Berdych in the semifinals.
“I have seen Philipp play here and he’s playing really well,” said Berdych. “He’s playing very aggressive, very confident, too, and he’s always a tough opponent to play.”
