Raonic Advances to Lyon Open Semifinals
Hopes of an all-French final were dashed as Tomas Berdych beat Gilles Simon to book a semi-final clash with top seed Milos Raonic.
OMNISPORT
Milos Raonic ended the charge of qualifier Gastao Elias with a commanding straight-sets triumph to tee up an Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon last-four meeting with Tomas Berdych.
Elias sprung a shock on Juan Martin del Potro in the previous round, but succumbed to a 6-4 6-3 loss against the top seed on Thursday.
The world number 125 made a promising start and had a break point in the opening game, but was broken himself when serving to stay in the first set.
A solitary break also proved decisive in the second set and Raonic will now take on Berdych after the Czech's 6-4 6-0 defeat of Gilles Simon.
The second semi-final pits home favorite and second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Tsonga took little over an hour to dismantle Karen Khachanov 6-0 6-4, while Basilashvili was a 6-3 6-1 victor over Nicolas Kicker.
