Top-Seeded Ljubicic, Wildcard Monfils Crash Out at ATP Metz

The charge of the "B"-team Frenchmen has made for an all-unseeded semifinals at the ATP stop in Metz, with Paul-Henri Mathieu upsetting No. 1 seed Ivan Ljubicic Friday.

"This was a great match, I stayed focused until the end," Mathieu said. "Ivan served so well in the first set, it was impossible for me to do anything. Against a player like him you have very few opportunity to break him, and you need to be ready at any time."

Also into the semis were French wildcard Richard Gasquet (d. countryman (WC) Monfils in a battle of 18-year-olds), French qualifier Jerome Haehnel (d. countryman Clement in three), and surprise American Jeff "Baby Krajicek" Morrison (d. Corretja).

"He was better than me today," said Monfils, too young to realize you're supposed to whine "I played so badly!" when you lose on the pro tour. "I don't regret anything apart from the passing shot I barely missed on a break point in the first set. Other than that, Richard was better than me today...This was a good tournament for me."

Saturday's semifinal match-ups are Mathieu vs. (Q) Haehnel in an all-French, and the No. 101-ranked Baby Krajicek vs. (WC) Gasquet, both first-time meetings.