We are not going to have an explosive Tsonga – Monfils final in Metz, but the final will be a tasty Tsonga – Seppi with an interesting clash of styles.
Tsonga – Davydenko 6-0, 3-6, 6-4
Jo was in full force to bagel Nicolay in the first set and then defend himself from the fierce come back of the Russian. Jo had his typical erratic tennis to alternate splendid points with some unforced errors. This produced 12 aces and 5 double faults (on 13 service games). The Frenchman was a bit ineffective in playing the important points to lose 2 break points out of 2 and to be able to convert only 4 break points out of 13. But finally he made it in 1 hour and 47 minutes.
“I am happy about being in the final again here. I am rather positive about my game,” said Tsonga. “I think I have been playing better and better each match. Today I served really well throughout the match. I only had one gap that cost me the second set. It’s a satisfaction to finally have defeated Nikolay, my list of players I never beat is getting smaller.”
Seppi – Monfils 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Great stuff from Andreas that managed to defeat Gael in 3 sets (1 hour and 41 minutes). The Italian played his trademark solid tennis to take advantage of a tired Gael.
“It was a tough match, like always,” said Seppi. “Especially when you play against Gael in France, it’s always tough. I think I started a little bit slow; I gave him too much rhythm. 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.”
The Final: Tsonga – Seppi
“It’s always been tough against Andreas. It will be a difficult match. I believe I also lost against him. He is very solid and playing very well lately so I will prepare myself for a big fight.” said Tsonga
The head to head is 2-1 for Tsonga and he is the hot favorite to win this tournament unless Seppi can beat two Frenchmen in consecutive matches on their home soil… difficult.
