DUSTIN “DREDDY” BROWN BEATS RUBEN BEMELMANS IN MONTPELLIER, HE IS THROUGH TO HIS FIRST CAREER ATP TENNIS SEMIFINAL BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 5th February 2016

Bravo ! #OSDF16 - Photo by @OpenSuddeFrance via Twitter. |

Merci au public de la #ParkSuiteArena pour la superbe énergie ! #tennis #Montpellier #ATP #ATPWorldTour #OSDF16 crédit photos : JB Autissier – Panoramic – Photo by @opensuddefrance via Instagram.

Previously 0-8 lifetime in ATP quarterfinals, Dustin Brown beat Ruben Bemelmans 6-3, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the Open Sud de France on Friday night. Brown broke serve four times to prevail in a mere 57 minutes. His reward is a Saturday date with No. 1 seed Richard Gasquet.

Coming off a second-round upset of Gilles Simon, Brown oozed confidence from start to finish against Bemelmans. The German’s serve never caught fire, but that did not adversely affect his all-court game. He was broken only once, saved four of five break points, and won 79 percent of his first-serve points.

“I’m just very happy to finally make it to a semi-final, after so many tries,” Brown commented. “I’ve played lots of times against Reuben and lost in a tight one last time. Basically I tried to play aggressively like the past couple of days and I’m happy it worked out.”

Bravo ! #OSDF16 – Photo by @OpenSuddeFrance via Twitter.

There was always going to be at least one German in the Montpellier semis heading into Friday action. That’s because Alexander Zverev went up against countryman Michael Berrer earlier in the day, and the match did not disappoint. The 18-year-old Zverev survived his 35-year-old opponent 6-7(2), 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and 43 minutes.

Zverev also owns victories this week at the expense of Luca Vanni (saved one match point) and Marin Cilic.

“It wasn’t easy to use all the chances because of the great play he did,” Zverev assessed. “You don’t have those days (like against Cilic) all the time, but even today I got the win so I’m happy with that.”

Next up for Zverev is Paul-Henri Mathieu. The 34-year-old has endured various injuries, but he is currently inside the top 100 at No. 93 in the rankings. He has advanced in Montpellier with defeats of Elias Ymer, Benoit Paire, and John Millman, dropping just one set to Millman in the process. This will be the fourth career meeting between the two players and first at the ATP level. Zverev leads the head-to-head series 2-1 thanks to a pair of Challenger wins in 2014.

Brown and Gasquet will be squaring off for the first time. This is the first tournament of Gasquet’s season, as he had been suffering with a back issue. But the 10th-ranked Frenchman has wasted no time getting back in gear. He booked his spot in the last four by taking out Ernests Gulbis and Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets.