Simon beaten at Lyon semifinal

LYON, France, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Gilles Simon lost 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) to Michael Llodra in Saturday's second semifinal at the Lyon Tennis Grand Prix in Lyon, France.

In a stirring battle of Frenchmen, Llodra rallied to force a tie-break in the third set, then dominated the tie-break before ending the match with a powerful forehand to set up a final Sunday against third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.

"I feel like my serve is working very well, and also my volleying as well," Llodra said. "I'm trying to put a lot of pressure on my opponents, and taking away the rhythm."

Ljubicic, a 6-2, 6-4 over former Lyon champion Arnaud Clement of France, won his first title in eight career finals at Lyon in 2001.

His last title was in June 2007 at 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

Sunday's Llodra-Ljubicic winner makes $152,000.