Tennis
Tsonga through to Open final
2012-10-20 15:33
Stockholm - Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of
France advanced to the Stockholm Open final on Saturday after Marcos
Baghdatis retired with an injury in the deciding set of their semifinal.
Baghdatis
withdrew after taking a medical timeout with Tsonga leading 6-4, 4-6,
5-2. He had picked up a left-groin strain at 4-2 in the decider, on a
break point on Tsonga's serve.
"These things happen sometimes, I
hope he recovers fast," said Tsonga, who recorded his fourth win over
Baghdatis in as many meetings.
In the final, the No. 7-ranked Tsonga will play the winner of the other semi between Tomas Berdych and Nicolas Almagro.
"We
played some good tennis ... I missed maybe two or three opportunities
to finish off the match a bit earlier. But I'm pleased with my
performance.
"I hope I'll be able to play like this (in the final)," added Tsonga.
It was the first serious test in the tournament for Tsonga, who made his debut in the Swedish capital this week.
Having
lost the second set to Baghdatis, Tsonga broke to 2-0 in the decider
thanks to a double-fault by the Cypriot opponent. He then fought off a
break point on his own service game to make it 3-0.
Leading 4-2 on
serve, Tsonga saved a dramatic break point with a crosscourt forehand
that Baghdatis failed to catch and injured himself trying.