Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed three sets to see off Nikolay Davydenko in an enthralling 6-0 3-6 6-4 semi final encounter of the Moselle Open 2012 in Metz. Tsonga will face Andreas Seppi in the final with the chance to take his second title of 2012, after Doha in January.
After a dominant first set that saw the Frenchman bagel his lower ranked opponent, it seemed like the match would uncompetitive and over very quickly but Davydenko drew upon his experience to drag himself back into the match. Tsonga missed break opportunities in games two and four of the second set and would regret his wastefulness when Davydenko managed to finally carve out two break points in game seven of the set as the Tsonga serve began to falter.
After one double fault had given Davydenko the break opportunities, Tsonga repeated the trick to gift his opponent the lead in the set for the first time. Serving to stay in the set, Tsonga was well on his way as he moved to 40-0 but collapsed again on serve – losing five points in a row and consequently the set on another double fault.
This gave Davydenko the all important advantage of serving first, and after saving break points in the opening game was fairly solid throughout. Unfortunately for the Russian, he was punished in a sloppy game late on at 4-4. Two break points came and went but Davydenko could do nothing on the third as the match was finally put to bed. Tsonga would then hold to love with ease to book his place in the final.
Stats
Aces - Tsonga 12-1 Davydenko
Double Faults Tsonga 5-7 Davydenko
First Serve % Tsonga 66%-67% Davydenko
Break Points Won Tsonga 4/13-2/2 Davydenko
0 Comments
Be the first to comment on this tennis news!