Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beats Tomas Berdych to reach final of Rotterdam Open
Saturday 18 February 2017 20:55, UK
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga remains on course for a first ATP title since 2015 after beating Tomas Berdych to reach the final of the Rotterdam Open.
Sixth seed Tsonga, runner-up in Rotterdam in 2011, needed just 72 minutes to book his place in the final, seeing off Berdych 6-3 6-4 for a fourth straight-sets victory of the week and a place in his first final of the year.
The Frenchman has lost his last two finals, against Andy Murray in Vienna last year and Novak Djokovic in Shanghai in 2015, but will be hopeful of adding to his 12 career titles when he faces David Goffin on Sunday.
World number 14 Tsonga had already seen off Marin Cilic earlier this week and toppled another higher seed with a single break in each set enough to do the damage against Berdych.
Tsonga was dominant on his own serve, with Berdych unable to force a single break point as the Frenchman fired down 10 aces and won 88 per cent of points behind his first serve to seal a surprisingly comfortable passage to Sunday's final.
Berdych came into the match with a dominant 8-3 lead in the head-to-head, including their last meeting in the Doha quarter-final last month, but a focused Tsonga has his sights set on a first title since Metz in September 2015.
"My only goal is to win the next match, this would be important for me," Tsonga said.
"I'm not too worried about my ranking unless I were able to get to eighth, that is the position where you are protected in the draw from other seeds.
"Berdych played a tough match, he's a power player, hitting the ball hard like me. My strategy is always the same - the best strategy is to just play well."
Goffin booked his place in the final with a 6-1 6-3 win over French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
The Belgian world No 11 took control of the opening set with two early breaks, and then again in the seventh game.
Goffin, who before this year had never won a match at the Rotterdam Open, remained in control when he opened up a 3-1 lead in the second set.
Although Herbert saved two match points to hold his serve at 3-5, it was only delaying the inevitable as Goffin went on to close out a comfortable victory in one hour and 16 minutes.
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