Martin Klizan recovered from dropping the opening set against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to advance to the semi-finals in Metz with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 win.
In their second career meeting, the first coming on the clay of Rio de Janeiro, Klizan again won a third set tiebreak against the thirty-two year old Spaniard.
Klizan had struggled in the opening set, as Garcia-Lopez started strongly, breaking twice and dropping just six points on serve. Klizan did recover one of the breaks, but Garcia Lopez held his nerve.
Klizan improved his ratio of first serve delivery, a key point in the match as Garcia Lopez was winning nearly two-thirds against second serve, during the second set. This more confident serving enabled the left-handed Klizan to begin applying more pressure on the Garcia-Lopez, forcing five break points and taking one to take the match into a decider.
Both players had opportunities to break in the final set, but neither could take them, and a tiebreak followed. Klizan enjoys a strong record in tiebreaks this year, at 17-7, and a 10-6 record in deciding sets. In contrast Garcia-Lopez is at 12-12 and 6-8. The tiebreak went to form, as Klizan took a double break advantage. A double fault brought Garcia-Lopez back to within one mini break, but Klizan reeled off the final three points to take his place in the semi-finals.
Klizan faces Frenchman Gilles Simon after he defeated Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
In the top half of the draw Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka pulled out of his quarter-final matchup with Philipp Kohlschreiber with an injury. Kohlschreiber will now face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, after he defeated in-form countryman Nicolas Mahut 6-7, 6-3, 7-5. Tsonga is still searching for his first title of the year, though he did manage a semi-final at Roland Garros.
