Lapentti books semi-final spot with victory over Simon at Boodles

The sunshine held out for world No.7 Gilles Simon as he took on Nicolas Lapentti yesterday (Wednesday), but the English weather got the better of Philippe Kohlschreiber and Viktor Troicki as they took to the court on the second day of The Boodles Challenge.
 
Simon and Lapentti entertained the crowd at Stoke Park in a thrilling first match which ended in a championship tie-breaker at 13-11.

Lapentti took the first set 6-4 and started the second set 4-0 up before Simon battled back to take the set off the Ecuadorian. Despite the world No.7's form of the last year however, Lapentti walks away with victories over Simon on clay, hard court and now grass. He wil play either Kohlscreiber or Troicki in the semi-finals.
 
The second match between Philpp Kohlschreiber and Viktor Troicki began under darkening clouds in Stoke Poges, South Bucks, and was eventually suspended with the young Serbian 3-0 in the first set. Play will re-commence today (Thursday) at 1.30pm.
 
“I am pleased with my performance today, It’s always very nice to play some matches before Wimbledon," said Lapentti.

"It’s great to play here at Boodles against friends where I can practice, play and relax. The rain break was OK - you have to get use to it. I now know how to deal with it - hopefully it won’t rain and the spectators can still enjoy some tennis!”

Also today is the first semi-final between Nicolay Davydenko and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. This is followed by an exhibition match between Fernando Gonzalez and Feliciano Lopez. The final game is Koralev against Evans.

Yesterday, Simon was announced as the eighth seed in the men's draw for Wimbledon, which starts on Monday. Tsonga has been seeded ninth, while Davydenko is 12th and Lopez 22nd. Kohlscreiber is the 27th seed and Troicki 30th,