Jo-Wilfried Tsonga remained on course to defend his Metz Open title with a three-set semi-final victory over Nikolay Davydenko on Saturday, but there will no all-French final after Gael Monfils’ comeback run was ended by Italy’s Andreas Seppi.
Top seed Tsonga seemed to be cruising to his second final of the season, but eighth seed Davydenko eventually posed a challenge before Tsonga won 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.
Davydenko clenched his fist when he finally got on the scoreboard at 1-1 in the second set and he seized on a serving lapse by Tsonga, which included three double faults in the eighth game of the set, to take the match into a decider.
Photo: AFP
Tsonga, bidding to qualify for the World Tour Finals in London in November for the top eight in the rankings, was made to work hard in the third set.
Davydenko faltered on serve at 4-4, when he made a forehand volley error, allowing Tsonga the chance to wrap up victory.
Earlier, Monfils, who returned to action this week after being sidelined by a knee injury since late May, started strongly against Seppi before losing 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Seppi, the world No. 28, completed victory after one hour and 41 minutes on his first match point.
“I am disappointed because the win was within my reach,” Monfils told a news conference. “I lacked freshness, which is normal, but I cannot be satisfied with a semi-final. The hard times have just begun because my body is not used to continued efforts any more.”
Former world No. 7 Monfils, down at 44th in the world rankings because of his injuries, relied on his powerful first serve to grab the first set without giving Seppi a break point.
Seppi fought back to dominate the second set, forcing a visibly tiring Monfils into some extended baseline rallies.
Monfils hung on in the deciding set, but the decisive breakthrough came in the fifth game when he stroked a forehand wide to give Seppi the advantage.
Seppi held on to his serve to book his place in yesterday’s final, his third of the year.
“It was a tough match, like always,” Seppi said. “Especially when you play against Gael in France, it’s always tough. I did better in the second set and in the end, it was more of a fight. We had some very long rallies, especially in the last game. I feel pretty confident and I hope I can recover for the final.”
ST PETERSBURG OPEN
Reuters, ST PETERSBURG, Russia
Slovakia’s Martin Klizan survived a grueling battle against top seed Mikhail Youzhny in the St Petersburg Open semi-finals on Saturday before winning 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 to reach the first ATP final of his career.
Third seed Klizan was to face Fabio Fognini in yesterday’s final after the fourth-seeded Italian beat Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-4 in the first semi-final.
Klizan, the world No. 45 from Bratislava, led Youzhny 5-2 in the final set, but wobbled serving for the match, allowing the 29th-ranked Russian to level the contest and force a tiebreak.
However, the more-experienced Youzhny, who won the first set tiebreak 13-11, double-faulted early on to gift his 23-year-old opponent a mini-break and never recovered.
Klizan fired a forehand down the line on his first match point to seal victory after three hours, 49 minutes.
“It was a very, very difficult match,” said Klizan, who did several push-ups on the court right after his triumph as if to show that he is in top physical shape. “I was fighting the whole match. I feel sorry for Mikhail because he is from Russia and people wanted to see him in the final, but I really wanted to win this match.”
Fognini’s path to the final was more straightforward even if he had to overcome a poor start before taking control.
“Daniel started well, breaking me in the first game, but I was able to break back and then manage another break. The second set was also tough,” Fognini told reporters.
“Now, I’m in a final and I could dream of winning it,” added the Italian, who lost to France’s Gilles Simon in his only previous title match in Bucharest, Romania, in April.
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