Tomas-Berdych.net         

In the semi-finals, Berdych will face qualifier Dmitry Tursunov who reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final since titling in June 2011 at the UNICEF Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch by battling past Gilles Muller 7-6(7), 1-6, 7-5 in just over two hours. The Russian had ousted fourth seed Janko Tipsarevic in the second round.

“Playing in qualifying for the third tournament this year, I really didn’t expect this,” admitted former World No. 20 Tursunov. “I wasn’t really looking that far ahead and I think that kind of helped me, I was just trying to play one match at a time. 

“It’s a long way to go to get back to No. 20, but it’s definitely good for me to get back to winning, especially indoors, which is usually my favourite surface. I need to work to try and improve my game, try to stay healthy and be able to play like this week in, week out.”

Berdych has a 5-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head lead over the Russian, though the pair have not played since 2011.

H2H Tomas Berdych vs Dmitry Tursunov

Tomas Berdych def. Dmitry Tursunov

OPEN 13 2013

Berdych Storms Into Marseille Final Marseille, France

by ATP Staff  | 23.02.2013

World No. 6 Tomas Berdych cruised into the Open 13 final on Saturday in Marseille, dismissing qualifier Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-1.

The top-seeded Czech won 25 of his 27 first serve points and broke Tursunov twice in each set to seal the win in just 54 minutes. Berdych improved to 6-1 against the Russian and has won the pair’s past five FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings.

The 27-year-old Berdych is seeking to lift his ninth ATP World Tour trophy, having captured two indoor hard titles last year in Montpellier (d. Monfils) and Stockholm (d. Tsonga). Prior to this week, Berdych had a 2-4 record in Marseille through his first four appearances.

In Sunday’s final, Berdych will face the winner of an all-French semi-final between No. 3 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and sixth-seeded Gilles Simon. Both Tsonga and Simon are former event champions.

ATP Homepage of Saturday, February 23, 2013

Tomas Berdych in action against Dmitry Tursunov