Lyon, France (Sports Network) – Robin Söderling carried the momentum from Friday’s victory over Andy Roddick into Saturday’s semifinal action, surviving fourth-seeded Gilles Simon in three sets to advance to the final at the Lyon Tennis Grand Prix.
Söderling won a very even statistical match from Simon, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. He won six more points and converted on 4-of-7 break chances to just 2-of-5 breaks won by Simon.
The seventh-seeded Söderling beat the 2005 Lyon champion Roddick on Friday by taking a pair of tiebreaks and maintaining the good form that took him to the Stockholm Open final just two weeks ago.
Soderling also won the title here in 2004, and will look for another crown against Julien Benneteau, who knocked off third-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5. Benneteau saved 3-of-4 break chances and converted two key breaks to take the closely-fought match.
The 2008 Lyon titlist will collect a first prize of $148,000.
Source: http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/story/?id=253737
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