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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." Giovani dos Santos Jersey . -- So much for concern that running back Marshawn Lynch would be absent from the Seattle Seahawks minicamp. 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Alfredo Simon lowered his ERA to 0.86, and the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Friday for their 16th win in their last 17 games at the Friendly Confines.The Toronto Blue Jays have recalled outfielder Kevin Pillar from Buffalo of the International League (AAA) and optioned infielder Jonathan Diaz to the Bisons. Pillar is batting .305 with 17 extra-base hits, 19 RBI and five stolen bases in 34 games for Buffalo this season. The right-handed hitter had an International League high, 18-game hitting streak this season and currently owns an IL high 26-game on base streak.dddddddddddd The 25-year-old played in 36 games for the Blue Jays last season batting .206 with three home runs and 13 RBI his first in the Major Leagues. ' ' '