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LYON, France -- Fourth-seeded Richard Gasquet of France beat
2004 champion Robin Soderling of Sweden 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the
Lyon Grand Prix semifinals Friday. Gasquet will face another former champ, 2000 winner Arnaud
Clement of France, for a berth in Sunday's final. Clement ousted eighth-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-2
to stay in the hunt for his third title of the year. He has beaten
Gasquet in their two matches this year -- both in France at Metz and
Marseille. Seventh-seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium defeated Robby Ginepri
of the United States 6-4, 6-3. Malisse, the runner-up to Soderling
in 2004, is the only non-Frenchman to reach this year's semifinals. He'll meet Marc Gicquel, who upset sixth-seeded Sebastien
Grosjean 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (5). The 30-year-old Gicquel is enjoying his
best year on the ATP tour with a 16-10 record. Saturday's
semifinals will be the second of his career.
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