Jo-Wilfried Tsonga books semi spot in Metz

Written by: Staff on 24th September 2011

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga books semi spot in Metz

Tennis player Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France celebrates after defeating along with his teammate Michael Llodra (not pictured) Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco of Spain (not pictured) at their Davis Cup World Group semifinal doubles match at Los Califas bullfing in Cordoba, southern Spain, 17 September 2011. The French couple won the match 6-1, 6-2 and 6-0. EPA/JULIO MUNOZ |

Top seed Frenchman Jo-Wifried Tsonga moved into the semi-finals of the Moselle Open in Metz earlier today when he took out fellow countryman Nicolas Mahut in three sets 4-6 6-3 7-5.

The World No. 10 competed over two hours to reach the next round where he will face the number three seed Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine. Dolgopolov was up 6-3 1-0 when Belgian opponent Xavier Malisse pulled out with a sore neck.

Tsonga who reached the quarterfinals of the US Open two weeks ago and the semi-final of Wimbledon said, “Nicolas is a fantastic player and I knew I was going to have a tough match. I think today I maybe missed the start and it took time for me to get into the match.”

Gilles Muller of Luxembourg reached the Metz semi-final by overcoming the number two seed Richard Gasquet of France. The number eight seed Muller won in straight sets 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 12 minutes. “I probably played today the best match all week. I had an unbelievable first set. Things got a bit complicated in the second, I may have lost my concentration a bit I was happy to be able to finish in two sets,” Muller said.

Muller will set up a clash with Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia who took out Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling 6-4 6-3. Ljubicic is a former Champion at the Moselle Open, which he won in 2005. The Croat is ranked No. 29 in the world and is looking to capture his first ATP tournament win this season. Ljubicic most recent tournament win was last year when he won the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Indian Wells.

The doubles event has reached the semi-final stage. Top seeds Christopher Kas of Germany and Alexander Peya of Austria lost to French wildcards Arnaud Clement and Kenny De Schepper 6-1 7-6 (3) in the quarterfinal. The French team will face Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Andre Sa of Brazil in the semis after taking out the second

French wildcard team in the draw Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Renavand 3-6 6-3 10-5.

The semi-final in the bottom half of the draw will be played between British duo and number four seeds Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic and Marcelo Melo of Brazil. The Brits won in two sets over Adil Shamasin of Canada and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia 6-4 7-5. The number two seeds Dlouhy and Melo had a tough first tiebreak set against German team Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Waske. The second seeds came through 7-6 (5) 6-4 in the end.

SCHEDULE – SATURDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER, 2011

CENTRE COURT start 2:00 pm

[4] I Ljubicic (CRO) vs [8] G Muller (LUX)

Not Before 3:30 PM

[1] J Tsonga (FRA) vs [3] A Dolgopolov (UKR)

K de Schepper (FRA) / A Clement (FRA) vs J Murray (GBR) / A Sa (BRA)

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