Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic made it to the semifinals of the Thailand Open tennis tournament with a straight sets win over Ivo Karlovic from Russia.

 

The Thailand Open which officially kicked off Tuesday and will last until Sunday at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani near Bangkok, has been stricken with a string of injuries and last-minute withdrawals by top stars as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick, the top three seeds for the event.

 

Berdych, ranked No. 10 in the world, beat seven-seeded Karlovic 7-5, 6-4.

 

German Benjamin Becker overcame compatriot and good friend Dominik Meffert 7-6 (7-2), 7-5.

 

The world No. 79 Becker is to play Berdych in Saturday's semi-finals.

 

Six-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov defeated Wang Yeu-tzuoo from Chinese Taipei 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Tursunov is to face eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco from Spain.

 

The annual Thailand Open, offering a prize money of a total US$550,000, is the only ATP tour event in Southeast Asia.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2007)