Fifth seeded Tomas Berdych reached his fifth consecutive semifinals after a hard fought three set battle against Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7(7)-6(4) 6-4 6-4 at the PNB Paribas Masters in Paris on Friday.

Both players started out echanging break points in the first set that eventually led to a tie-break where Anderson edged out the 2005 former tournament champion to take the lead.

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The 29-year-old Czech got more aggressive in the second set as he took advantage of the South African's second serves and broke Anderson late in the set to level the match at one apiece.

The If Stockholm Open champion continued his momentum in the third and deciding set as Berdych broke Anderson early to eventually serve out for the set and the match.

Berdych is competing at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals where he is currently in 6th place, just 10 points behind Britain's No. 1 Andy Murray and 30 points ahead of Kei Nishikori of Japan.
The China Open finalist is almost assured of a spot in London as long as Canadian star Milos Raonic loses his match against 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer or if Japan Open Champion Nishikori defeats Spaniard David Ferrer in their quarterfinals matchup.

The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament champion will next face the winner of the matchup between second seeded Federer and seventh seeded Raonic.

Since Rafael Nadal is out for the rest of the year because of appendectomy, four spots are still up for grabs in the prestigious event and Raonic, who is currently in 10th place in the eight-man short list to London, must win his match against Federer in order to keep his hopes alive.

If Raonic wins, he must cheer for Nishikori to win his match against Ferrer who is just 25 points ahead of him in 10th place.

TagsTomas Berdych, Milos Raonic, Roger Federer