Berdych gains another ATP semifinal spot in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Tomas Berdych extended his winning streak to 10 matches with a straight-set decision in quarterfinal play of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Berdych, seeded third in Dubai and coming off a tournament title two weeks ago in the Netherlands, is looking for a second straight trip to the finals in Dubai. He lost in the finals to Novak Djokovic last year.

Berdych got by fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-3, saving all five break points he faced. He was able to cash in two -- one in each set -- of his seven break chances to advance.

He'll face seventh-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber in the semifinals. Kohlschreiber ousted Malek Jaziri 6-2, 6-4 without seeing a break point. He lost only 12 points in nine games serving.

Berdych takes a 7-1 career mark against Kohlschreiber into Friday's semifinals.

The second semifinal is a marquee matchup of Djokovic -- who is ranked No. 2 in the world and has won the tournament four of the last five years -- and No. 4-seed Roger Federer, whose five Dubai titles includes a win in 2012.

Djokovic gained a spot in the semifinals without taking the court as No. 8-seeded Mikhail Youzhny said he was too ill to play.

Federer, in the last quarterfinal match, raced past Lukas Rosol 6-2, 6-2 in about an hour. Federer lost his serve his first time serving but saw only one other break point the rest of the way. He dropped 16 points in eight games serving while winning 56 percent of the points -- and 5-of-11 break points -- when Rosol served.

Federer owns a slight 16-15 edge over Djokovic in career meetings but Djokovic last won the last three times they played.