Berdych beats Vesely to make Shenzhen semis

Shenhen — Defending champion Tomas Berdych defeated Czech countryman Jiri Vesely 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-2 in the Shenzhen Open quarterfinals on Friday.

Berdych dropped his serve in the opening game but rallied to win the set in a lopsided tiebreaker.

Vesely made the crucial service break in the fourth game of the second set to level the set score, but Berdych broke Vesely three times in the deciding set to win in just over two hours.

Top-seeded Berdych will take on unseeded Thomaz Bellucci in the semifinals, after the Brazilian upset Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-2, 6-2.

Third-seeded Richard Gasquet ended German qualifier Mischa Zverev's run in the tournament 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), and set up a semifinal against Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, who beat Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 7-6 (6), 6-2.