Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic stayed on course for a title at the start of the new season when he eased into the semi-finals of the $450,000 ATP Chennai Open on Friday. The world number six brushed aside the 112nd-ranked Blaz Kavcic of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 24 minutes on the centre court of the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium.
The top-seeded Berdych dropped his serve twice in the second set, but kept the pressure on Kavcic by breaking him four times. "I had never played him before so it was a little bit tough to know what to expect," Berdych said of Kavcic. Berdych, playing for the first time in Chennai, awaits the winner of the quarter-final between third seed Stanislas Wawrinka and Robin Haase. Seventh-seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium also moved into the semi-finals with an emphatic 6-0, 6-2 win over error-prone Bjorn Phau of Germany.