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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Gael Monfils is finally feeling good about his game. Hes winning, too. The Frenchman, once ranked among the worlds top 10 players, beat Spains Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (10), 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday night to advance to the Winston-Salem Open semifinals. The 43rd-ranked Monfils will face Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine, a 7-6 (7), 6-3 winner over Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan. "Its always good to be in the semifinals, especially after two big wins," Monfils said. "(Verdasco is) very aggressive, hitting lots of winners and making lots of mistakes. It makes you play a bit different." In the evening session at the Wake Forest Tennis Center, American Sam Querrey beat unseeded Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-3, 6-4 in the final hard-court tournament before next weeks U.S. Open. Monfils, a touring pro since 2004, was once ranked as high as No. 7 in the world at the end of the 2011 season. But a knee injury forced him to miss the final four months of the 2012 schedule, dropping him as low as No. 119 as he tried playing his way back into shape. Then, the Frenchman missed another month on the tour dealing with ankle and bicep injuries, with the Winston-Salem Open his first tournament action since the forced break. Against Verdasco, Monfils had key service breaks in the second and third sets to move into a tournament semifinal round for the fifth time this season. "Im pretty happy with how things are going," said Monfils, who had seven aces and just one double fault. "Hopefully, I can keep winning and try to get back into shape." In beating Lu, the 38th-ranked Dolgopolov overcame a knuckle injury on his left hand to advance to a semifinal for the first time this season. The right-handed Dolgopolov had to take an injury timeout in the fifth game of the second set after hitting his left thumb with the frame of his racket on a forehand shot. "I couldnt feel it much for a few games," Dolgopolov said. "It just aches -- not a hard pain, but it threw off my concentration a bit. Stuff like that happens. You have to deal with it and get back as fast as you can." Dolgopolov, who had a half-inch cut on the first knuckle of his left thumb, lost serve in that game. But he broke right back in the sixth game, then had another service break two games later. "I wasnt happy I lost the break," said Dolgopolov, who had nine aces against No. 62 Lu. "I was serving pretty solid all match, but after that, I gave away three points that he didnt do much to break. After that, I did pretty well for a few games." Querrey -- at No. 29, the highest ranked player remaining in the field -- advanced to a tournament semifinal for the third time this season, and his first since mid-February at San Jose, Calif. "I thought I played well -- the best Ive played so far," Querrey said. "I had that mental lapse in the second set, but I was fortunate there. I cant afford to have that happen tomorrow, but all around it was pretty good. Ive gotten a little better in each match, and I hope I can be even better tomorrow." Querrey finished with 10 aces, but struggled with his serve at times against the 126th-ranked Berankis. At one point in the second set, the two swapped service breaks in four straight games before Querrey served out the match. "I was just frustrated about those previous two service games," Querrey said. "He broke me in both of those, and that doesnt happen often. That last game, I turned the dial up a little bit. I wasnt going to be broken a third time, so I went with the gas right down the middle." Querrey will next face Austrias Jurgen Melzer, who beat Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 6-3 in a match that was delayed twice for rain, the second delay lasting just over an hour. The 32nd-ranked Melzer had only two aces to eight by Tursunov, but he broke the Russians serve four times -- three coming in the second set -- to advance to his third tournament semifinal this season and the first since winning in Dallas in March. "I felt like I hit the ball well, a lot better than I did the first two rounds," Melzer said. "(The rain delays) were tough, because I was in a really good rhythm. It was difficult, but I felt like I was in command of the game." Trevor Hoffman Jersey . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Franmil Reyes Padres Jersey . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. http://www.padressale.com/padres-randy-jones-jersey/ . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. San Diego Padres Jerseys . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said. Fernando Tatis Jr. Padres Jersey . With his new coach and six-time Grand Slam singles champion Boris Becker watching him during an official match for the first time, Djokovic appeared tentative early against the Slovakian player, who often appeared content to keep the ball in play. Retired Collingwood star Dane Swan has admitted to being surprised that North Melbournes Daniel Wells will probably join the Magpies under AFL free agency.While Swan made it clear he respects Wells ability as a player, he questioned why the Magpies are recruiting a 31-year-old when they have let go of several older players.North Melbourne announced on Monday that Wells was leaving the club, having rejected their offer of a two-year deal.The Magpies are set to recruit him as an unrestricted free agent on a three-year contract.Swan told AFL trade radio that Wells has great skill and outside speed, qualities that will help the Magpies, but the Brownlow Medallist clearly has mixed feelings.But I guess I was a bit surprised, like everyone else, he said.Weve obviously gotten rid of a lot of older players and I thought wed be ... getting some youth in the side, building with them.Is Wells in our next premiership side? I certainly hope he is, because that means were going to win one in the next couple of years.I dont know how you can pass up if he wants to to come to the Pies and the price is right, well, I dont know how you can argue with that.While Wells has had injury problemss, Magpies recruiting manager Derek Hine noted the speedster managed 19 senior games this season.ddddddddddddHine also conceded they could do with more player experience, given their oldest player at the moment will be 28 if, as expected, Travis Cloke goes to the Western Bulldogs.I think weve got 26-27 players under 25, Hine said.Daniel ... finished fourth in (Norths) best and fairest and has clearly been a really high performer for a long period of time.Wells is the latest veteran to leave North, with Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Michael Firrito and Nick Dal Santo not offered new contracts.That is 1588 games of AFL experience.Meanwhile, Swan is confident the Magpies will soon improve as a team after three years out of the finals.All the trades weve had over the last couple of years, they need that continuity together and we havent had that, Swan said.So I think over the next two seasons, youre going to find a much better Collingwood outfit.Hopefully it happens (next) year, but I think 2018 is going to be the year where they really gel together. 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