Thiem Sets Simon Semi-Final Clash

Dominic Thiem remained on course in the Emirates ATP Race To London as he defeated Gilles Muller on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Moselle Open. The top-seeded Austrian withstood 16 aces to beat the 33-year-old Luxembourg native 6-4, 7-6(5).

“I’m very happy about the match because the return is one of my biggest weaknesses and it’s always tough against a good server like Gilles,” said Thiem. “The first set I returned really well… I broke him and I also had chances to break a second time.”

Thiem currently sits in the seventh position in the Race To London, behind Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori and Gael Monfils, who are also in close contention for the remaining five Barclays ATP World Tour Finals qualifying spots.

The World No. 10, who hit 33 winners and did not face a break point in the 82-minute victory, will take on fourth seed Gilles Simon for a spot in the ATP World Tour 250 final. The pair are tied 2-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with Thiem claiming the win in their last meeting at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Rome in 2015.

Earlier, the Frenchman Simon defeated Malek Jaziri 7-6(2), 6-0, capitalising on five of his 13 break point chances to advance in one hour and 40 minutes and reach his first semi-final of 2016.

“It’s not the biggest result ever but I get a lot of satisfaction from fighting through and winning the match,” said Simon. “The first set was very tight. Malek likes to change the rhythm and adjust his court position quite a bit. I managed to hang on.”

In doubles, Julio Peralta/Horacio Zeballos ousted second seeds Oliver Marach/Fabrice Martin 6-7(1), 6-4, 10-8 to reach the final.