Melo/Kubot To Face Sock/Tomic In Beijing SFs

Second seeds Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot reached the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing after edging Wimbledon finalists Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 5-7, 6-3, 10-8 on Thursday.

The Brazilian/Polish duo are chasing their second title together after victory in Vienna last year (d. Murray/Peers).

“We’re happy to be in the semis here in Beijing,” said Melo. “We played really well today. It was a tough match. The French guys were playing really good. We hope we can continue playing the same way, as aggressive as we were, and we are enjoying the moment.”

They go on to face Jack Sock and Bernard Tomic, who also came from a set down to beat Paolo Lorenzi and Guido Pella 4-6, 6-4, 10-7 in 77 minutes. Both Sock and Tomic are bidding to win their first ATP World Tour doubles titles of the season.

“It’s always fun playing doubles with a good friend and I think that’s why we are doing well,” said Sock, who won the Beijing doubles crown last year with Vasek Pospisil. “We are keeping it light out there and playing good tennis because of it.”