Monfils Flies French Flag In Bercy; Faces Stepanek In SF

© Getty ImagesGael Monfils is chasing his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

Frenchman Gael Monfils reached the semi-finals of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the third time Friday as he battled past Croatian Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 Friday at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris (Bercy).

The No. 13-ranked Cilic made a strong start to the pair’s first meeting, breaking serve twice in the opening set to go ahead. Buoyed on by the home support at the Palais Omnisports, Monfils hit back immediately to break serve at the start of the second set before levelling the match. The Parisian then broke serve in the fifth game of the decider and went on to seal victory after two hours and 22 minutes.

"When I play in front of my family and the French crowd, I feel immediately a lot better," said Monfils. "I believe in myself. I don't have much autonomy, but I believe in it. I try to do my best, and my level of game gets higher. I move well. I surprise myself."

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The 23-year-old Monfils improved to a 29-31 match record in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 play, having also advanced to the semi-finals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. to Nadal) in Rome in 2006 and the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open (l. to Murray) last year.

The right-hander is looking to reach his third ATP World Tour final of the season, following victory at the Open de Moselle (d. Kohlschreiber) in Metz, which ended a four-year title drought, and a runner-up finish at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel (l. to Almagro) in Acapulco.

In the semi-finals Monfils will face Czech Radek Stepanek, who advanced when Juan Martin del Potro retired with an abdominal strain after losing the first four games of their quarter-final clash. Monfils leads their career series 2-1, winning their most recent clash in straight sets at the Bank Austria TennisTrophy last year.

World No. 14 Stepanek is through to his second successive semi-final after reaching the last four at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (l. to Djokovic) last week. He will attempt to reach the final in Paris (Bercy) for the second time, following a runner-up finish in 2004 (l. to Safin).