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World No. 7 Tomas Berdych closed on a third final appearance at the Gerry Weber Open on Friday as he finished strongly to defeat fifth-seeded Serbian Viktor Troicki 7-6(3), 6-1 and reach the semi-finals in Halle.

The Czech player saved the three break points he faced, while converting two of his five opportunities on Troicki’s serve, to claim victory in 81 minutes. He improved to a 13-3 record at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tennis tournament, having reached the final in 2006 (l. to Federer) and won the title in 2007 (d. Baghdatis).

The 25-year-old Berdych opened his 2011 grass-court campaign on the back of a disappointing first-round exit at Roland Garros, where he surrendered a two-set lead to fall in five sets against Stephane Robert. This time last year he had reached the semi-finals in Paris (l. to Soderling) before advancing to his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon (l. to Nadal).

World No. 8 Gael Monfils reached his second ATP World Tour semi-final of the season as he dismissed German No. 1 Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-4 in 64 minutes. The Frenchman broke serve three times from four opportunities to record his third win in three meetings with the No. 18-ranked Mayer.

After struggling with a left wrist injury in the early part of the season, Monfils has returned to a rich vein of form in the past few weeks. The 24 year old, who is making his debut in Halle, is coming off his fourth Grand Slam quarter-final showing at Roland Garros, where he lost out to Roger Federer.

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