Defending champ Berdych eliminated by Petzschner at BMW Open; Cilic, Youzhny advance

Defending champ Berdych loses in BMW Open quarters

MUNICH — Philipp Petzschner of Germany upset defending champion Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to reach the BMW Open semifinals.

Top-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia needed three sets to beat sixth-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-2 and stay on course for his third title of the year.

Two-time runner-up Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, who lost last year’s final to Berdych, eased into the semifinals by beating Jiri Hajek of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3.

Fifth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus reached his second semifinal of the year by beating fourth-seeded Philip Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-4. Kohlschreiber won the tournament in 2007.

Baghdatis saved three break points before serving out the match. He will next play Cilic.

The third-seeded Berdych had won both previous matches against Petzschner, but the German broke Berdych’s serve for a decisive 5-4 lead in the third set, after Berdych had saved three break points.

Petzschner will next play the second-seeded Youzhny.