Fri Sep 26 10:20:57 2008

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Djokovic, Tsonga reach Bangkok semis

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Bangkok, Thailand (Sports Network) - Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and Aussie Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were among Friday's quarterfinal winners at the $576,000 Thailand Open.

The top-seeded Djokovic got past sixth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling 6-4, 7-5, while a second-seeded Tsonga swatted 13 aces en route to drilling eighth- seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-2 on the hardcourts at Impact Arena.

The Serbian Djokovic improved to a solid 57-13 this year by with the help of nine aces and three breaks of Soderling in their 1-hour, 28-minute affair on Friday.

The world No. 3 Djokovic will meet third-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in Saturday's semifinals, while Tsonga will battle fellow rising Frenchman Gael Monfils. Berdych defeated France's Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 on Day 4 here, while the French Open semifinalist Monfils, seeded fourth this week, bested German Philipp Petzschner 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

Djokovic has never met Berdych and Tsonga has never faced Monfils at the ATP level.

This week's champion will pocket $94,000.