Djokovic beats Zverev to reach Open 13 semifinals

MARSEILLE, France (AP)—Novak Djokovic advanced to the semifinals of the Open 13 by beating Mischa Zverev 6-3, 6-3 Friday.
The third-ranked Serb broke Zverev in the sixth game on a double-fault from the German before winning 12 points in a row to serve out the first set and take a 2-0 lead in the second.
“I was focused from the start,” Djokovic said. “Mischa was trying to get to the net, but I really returned well. That was the key today.”
Djokovic lost in Marseille in the first round in 2007 and in the second round last year.
“I haven’t got a lot of success in the last two years here,” Djokovic said. “But this year, everything is going well.”
Now he has to beat two Frenchmen for the title.
In the semifinals, Djokovic will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-4.
Tsonga, who leads Djokovic 3-1 overall, landed 78 percent of his first serves and hit six aces in the first set. Lopez fought back in the second set and saved two break points to force a tiebreaker.
“Feliciano was really good in the tiebreak,” Tsonga said. “He was very aggressive. He served well.”
The other semi features 2007 winner No.2 Gilles Simon against unseeded Michael Llodra, who advanced to beat Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3).
Simon beat Julien Benneteau 6-2, 6-4 in an all-French quarterfinal, nailing three of 10 break points without losing his own serve.
Llodra broke Youzhny in the third game of the second set with a backhand winner, but squandered his lead while serving for the match at 5-4 with a double-fault.
He and Youzhny broke each other only once in the nearly two-hour match, but Youzhny missed eight other chances.