http://www.atptennis.com/lyon/newsstories/saturdayreview.asp
In the first semifinal of the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, France's
Paul-Henri Mathieu reached his second consecutive final after
defeating Danish qualifier Kristian Pless 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-4. The
20-year-old Frenchman saved one match point in the second set by
hitting an ace. Mathieu improved his record against the 21-year-old
Dane to 2-0.

"This morning I felt very tired and was hurting everywhere. I'm not
sure if I would have played this match anywhere else but in Lyon in
front of a French crowd. I thought it was a very competitive match
that could have gone either way. I hope that I will feel great tomorrow.
I have been waiting long in my tennis life to have two weeks like
these," said Mathieu, who has now won 12 consecutive matches.

"Paul-Henry played really well on the big points today. He seems to
be holding up really well physically and has plenty of confidence.
Overall I had a good week. I sure did not expect this starting the
Lyon week in the qualies last Saturday," said Pless, who was looking
for his first final appearance.

Later on Saturday unseeded Gustavo Kuerten ousted the 2000 Lyon
champion Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-7(1) 6-3. Like Mathieu the Brazilian
is aiming for his second straight victory after Bahia, Brazil last
month.

"Yesterday against Marat Safin was a great victory and confidence
builder for me. I think he is one of the most complete players on
the tour and to beat him on a fast surface meant a lot to me. Today
was a different match since I got more rhythm from Arnaud but had to
hit many more shots to win the points. Overall, I feel like I have
adapted well to the surface and to the different game styles of my
opponents," Kuerten said after the match.