Berdych, Raonic to battle for Bangkok title
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Top seed Tomas Berdych and third seed Milos Raonic won their respective semifinal matches on Saturday at the Thailand Open tennis event.
Berdych came from behind to beat fourth-seeded Gilles Simon by a 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-5 margin.
Simon, the 2009 champion of this event, was last week's winner in Metz, France. The Frenchman was attempting to reach back-to-back finals for the first time in his career.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Berdych improved to 3-5 all-time against Simon, while snapping a three-match losing streak against the Frenchman in the process.
Next up for Berdych is Raonic, who rallied past second-seeded Richard Gasquet by a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 score. Raonic lost to Gasquet in five sets in the fourth round of the U.S. Open earlier this month.
Gasquet bested Simon in last year's all-French finale here.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Berdych is the only member of the Top 10 not to have won a title this year, going 0-2 in finals. The Czech is 8-10 in career title matches.
Raonic will appear in his third final of the year (1-1). He holds a 4-4 mark in career title matches.
The 2013 Bangkok titlist will earn $102,450.