No. 3 seed and 2001 champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia takes on 2000 winner Arnaud Clement in the first semi-final at the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon. In the second semi-final, No. 2 seed Gilles Simon looks for his first win (0-3) against wild card and countryman Michael Llodra. Three of the four players (except Simon) are attempting to capture their first ATP World Tour title of the season. The winner of the Simon-Llodra match will guarantee a Frenchman into the Lyon final for the fifth year in a row and seventh time in past eight years.

SATURDAY SEMI-FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS – In Order of Play

(WC) Arnaud Clement (FRA) vs (3) Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) Ljubicic Leads 7-2
03 Halle (Germany) Grass R16 Arnaud Clement 6-4 6-2
04 FRA v. CRO WG 1st RD (France) Clay RR Arnaud Clement 6-2 3-6 7-6(3) 6-4
04 ATP Masters Series Miami (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Ivan Ljubicic 3-6 6-3 6-2
04 ATP Masters Series Rome (Italy) Clay R64 Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 2-6 7-6(3)
04 Lyon (France) Carpet R32 Ivan Ljubicic 6-4 7-6(1)
04 ATP Masters Series Paris (France) Carpet R64 Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 7-6(4)
06 ATP Masters Series Toronto Hard R32 Ivan Ljubicic 7-6(6)6-4
07 Roland Garros (France) Clay R128 Ivan Ljubicic 6-1  7-5 7-6(2)
09 Casablanca (Morocco) Clay R32 Ivan Ljubicic 7-6(6) 5-7 6-4

Clement FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
QF: Stockholm (l Baghdatis)
YTD W-L: 12-18
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: December 17, 1977
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 119

• Clement, 31, is appearing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final of the season after upsetting top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 57 64 76(8), saving one match point in the quarter-finals…He also posted wins over Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 61 63 and No. 7 seed Benjamin Becker 64 63
• His last ATP World Tour semi-final (and final) came in Nottingham in June 2007 when he lost to Ivo Karlovic…He is 4-6 in finals and his last ATP World Tour title came in Washington in 2006 (d. Murray)
• The veteran Frenchman is appearing in Lyon for the 13th straight year (20-11 record) and he won his first of four career ATP World Tour titles here in 2000 (d. Rafter)…He also reached the final in 2003 (l. to Schuettler) and the semi-finals in 2002 and ‘06
• Last week in Stockholm he qualified and reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the year, falling to eventual champion Marcos Baghdatis
• The 2001 Australian Open finalist enters with a 12-18 match record on the season and No. 119 ranking…In this decade he’s finished out of the Top 100 only once, in 2004 at No. 104…He compiled back-to-back Top 20 campaigns in 2000 (No. 18) and 2001 (No. 17)

Ljubicic FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
QF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Murray); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Nadal); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Djokovic); Eastbourne (l Santoro); Umag (l Melzer); Beijing (l Soderling); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Nadal)
YTD W-L: 29-21
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 8
Date of Birth: March 19, 1979
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 29

• Ljubicic, 30, is appearing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final of the season and he’s trying to reach his first final since February 2008 in Zagreb (l. to Stakhovsky)…His last title came in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in June 2007 (d. Wessels)…He is 8-12 lifetime in ATP World Tour finals
• The Monte-Carlo resident is making his second semi-final or better showing in Lyon (13-6 record)…He won his first ATP World Tour title here in 2001 (d. El Aynaoui) and reached the quarter-finals in 2007
• He enters with a 29-21 match record, including 16-13 on hard courts after posting wins over Martin Vassallo Arguello 63 64, German Nicolas Kiefer 63 36 63 and Florent Serra 76(6) 62
• His previous best result this year was seven quarter-finals, most recently at ATP Shanghai Masters 1000 (l. to Nadal) along with Indian Wells (l. to Murray), Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal), Madrid (l. to Djokovic), Eastbourne (ret. vs. Santoro), Umag (l. to Melzer) and Beijing (l. to Soderling)
• He began the season at No. 58 and dipped as low as No. 76 for week of March 2 but has improved to No. 29 this week…Has spent 84 career weeks inside Top 10, all consecutive, between October 31, 2005 and June 10, 2007 (peaked at No. 3 for 11 non-consecutive weeks)

(WC) Michael Llodra (FRA) vs (2) Gilles Simon (FRA) Llodra Leads 3-0
05 Metz (France) Hard R32 Michael Llodra 6-4  6-0
08 Adelaide (Australia) Hard R32 Michael Llodra 7-6(3) 6-3
09 Marseille (France) Hard SF Michael Llodra 7-6(5) 6-2

Llodra FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
F: Marseille (l Tsonga); QF: s-Hertogenbosch (l Becker)
YTD W-L: 16-14
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: May 18, 1980
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 107

• Llodra, 29, is appearing in his first semi-final in Lyon in eight attempts (6-7 record)...He has not dropped a set this week in registering wins over Lamine Ouahab 61 62, No. 4 seed Juan Monaco 63 64 and countryman Marc Gicquel 76(5) 64 en route to his second ATP World Tour semi-final or better this year…His best result came in February in Marseille where he reached his sixth career ATP World Tour final (l. to countryman Tsonga)…He is 3-3 in finals…His last title came in Rotterdam in Feb. 2008
• In June he advanced to the quarter-finals in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, losing to eventual champion Benjamin Becker… He comes in with a 16-14 match record on the season, including 12-10 on hard courts
• He fell to a season-low ranking of No. 144 on June 15 and came in this week No. 107…He will move back into the Top 100 next week for first time since May 25 (at No. 78)

Simon FastFacts:
2009 Highlights:
W: Bangkok (d Troicki); SF: Marseille (l Llodra); Dubai (l Djokovic); QF: Australian Open (l Nadal); Estoril (l Montanes); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Djokovic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai (l Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 42-26
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: December 27, 1984
South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking: 12

• Simon, 24, the No. 2 Frenchman (behind No. 8 Tsonga) has reached his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final (or better) this year…Almost four weeks ago he captured his sixth career ATP World Tour title in Bangkok (d. Troicki, first in Asia)…He also reached the quarter-finals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai…He is 6-2 in his career in ATP World Tour finals
• He enters with a 42-26 record this year, including 31-12 on hard
• He is appearing in his second straight semi-final in Lyon (l. to eventual champ Soderling)…He also reached the SF at Marseille (l. to Llodra) and Dubai (l. to Djokovic)
• His other QF came at Australian Open (l. to Nadal, Estoril (l. to Montanes) and Cincinnati (l. to Djokovic)
• In March, made his Davis Cup debut against the Czech Republic and lost to Berdych in the opening rubber and to Stepanek in the fourth rubber, which clinched tie...Of seven sets played, lost four TBs

2009 French Title Winners on ATP World Tour
                                    No. 
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga        3
Jeremy Chardy              1
Gael Monfils                  1
Gilles Simon                  1

POTENTIAL FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS

Arnaud Clement (FRA) vs Michael Llodra (FRA)  Clement Leads 3-0
01 Lyon (France) Carpet R32 Arnaud Clement 4-6 6-3 6-1
03 Metz (France) Hard R32 Arnaud Clement 7-5 6-1
06 Lyon (France) Carpet R16 Arnaud Clement 2-6 6-1 7-6(2)

Arnaud Clement (FRA) vs Gilles Simon (FRA)     First Meeting

Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) vs Michael Llodra (FRA)   Llodra Leads 1-0
08 Halle (Germany) Grass R32 Michael Llodra 6-7(6)   7-6(5)  7-5

Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) vs Gilles Simon (FRA)   Ljubicic Leads 3-0
06 ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo  Clay R16 Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-2
09 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard R32 Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 7-6(3)
09 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Spain) Clay R16 Ivan Ljubicic 3-6 6-4 6-3