Gilles Simon progressed to the semi-finals of the Sydney International with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov on Thursday, providing more evidence the Frenchman is getting back toward his best.
The former world No. 6 was hampered by a knee injury throughout 2010, dropping out of the top 40, but he has shown in Sydney he could yet be an unseeded force at the upcoming Australian Open.
Simon's victory set up a meeting with No. 3 seed Ernests Gulbis of Latvia who beat Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4, 6-4. The match will be the first meeting between the pair in an ATP event.
In the women' draw, China's Li Na came from a break down in the first set to beat Bojana Jovanovski 7-6 (5), 6-3 to reach the final, where she will face either Kim Clijsters or Alisa Kleybanova. It will be Li's eighth final.
Simon and Dolgopolov both earned their places in the quarterfinals after completing rain-delayed first round matches Wednesday morning, then returning to the court for second round matches in the afternoon. The tough schedule fully tested Simon's recovery.
"I'm playing very good now, as good as two years ago," he said.
"The thing is in tennis it's always a matter of confidence. You have to win some good matches and to beat the top guys.
"That's why I'm working hard to come back as soon as possible. I'm (ranked 41) now. I hope to reach top 30 or top 20 really as soon as possible because I know it will be better with the draws and everything."
Gulbis sought to dominate his match against Stakhovsky from the outset and said he would do the same against Simon.
"My game plan is simple. I go for my serve, I go for my shots, I make the points short," he said.
"I'm not going to try to run Simon from the baseline. He's much more used to playing longer rallies than me."