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Simon hammers Gulbis to make final

Gilles Simon fought back from a slow start to eventually ease his way into the final in Sydney © Getty Images

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Gilles Simon comprehensively defeated No. 3 seed Ernests Gulbis to book his place in the final of the Sydney Invitational.

Simon defeated the Latvian 7-6(1) 6-0 to set up a clash with Serbian Viktor Troicki, who took his chances when they came to see off German Florian Mayer 6-4 7-6(4) in an error-strewn match.

Frenchman Simon lost his opening service game of the semi-final, but made a timely break as his 22-year-old opponent attempted to serve for the first set. That game seemed to turn the match as the ensuing tie-break was a one-sided affair, and Simon subsequently went on to drop just three points in the second set as he romped to victory.

Simon has only recently recovered from a knee injury, but feels he is now getting back to the form and fitness that saw him win in France at the end of the 2010 campaign.

"I had some good weeks the last three months of the season," Simon said. "I'm thinking about Metz, of course. I was playing good in France, also in Valencia. In Metz, I was playing good, not moving as I wanted; in Valencia, I remember I was moving very good. I was more and more confident about my knee, but I was not playing that good. So this week it's better."

Gulbis credited his opponent for a superior performance.

"When he got into rhythm, he's the best when he's playing counter-attack," Gulbis said. "When I'm going to [the] net or when it's tough balls for him, he goes backhand down the line. Couple times [it] was really good. But otherwise, he didn't surprise me. He just played a good, solid match."

Simon will now play Troicki in the final, who he has only previously lossed once to - in the deciding singles match in the final of last year's Davis Cup. The fourth seed made the fewer mistakes in his match with Mayer, which was affected somewhat by the weather.

"I would say the match was pretty bad," said Troicki. "It was quite windy. We were both struggling with our games. I wasn't so happy with my performance, but still I'm happy that I won. There was a lot mistakes from both sides."

At the ATP Tour's other event, in New Zealand, top seed David Ferrer beat Santiago Giraldo 6-3 7-5 to book his place in the final of the Auckland Open against David Nalbandian, who had too much for No. 2 seed Nicolas Almagro in a 6-4 6-2 victory.

Ferrer was pleased to make his 20th tour final, continuing the good form that saw him contest a career high five in 2010. Nevertheless former Wimbledon finalist Nalbandian, who also found out on Friday he will face Lleyton Hewitt in the first round of the Australian Open when it gets underway next week, was in bullish mood about his chances in the final.

"I know that I have to play my tennis," Nalbandian said. "If I play good and with confidence it's tough for the opponents so I have to keep going."

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