Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rained down ten aces, finishing off Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4 in 72 minutes yesterday to power into a second Rotterdam World Tennis final and record his 400th career win. The French sixth seed will compete for his first title at the Ahoy stadium after finishing runner-up six years ago.
He faces the winner from Belgian third seed David Goffin and surprise semi-finalist Pierre-Hugues Herbert, a French qualifier and member of the top ATP doubles side.
Tsonga was unstoppable against Berdych, the 2014 champion and 2015 finalist playing his fourth semi-final at the Dutch event.
Tsonga came good in his second semi-final of the season as he bids for a first trophy since winning at home in Metz in 2015.
Berdych came to the court with an 8-3 lead in the series, including wins in their last two meetings, one a Doha quarter-final last month.
Tsonga finished with two breaks of the 13th-ranked Czech while never facing a break point in what quickly became one-way traffic.
“My only goal is to win the next match, this would be important for me,” 2011 runner-up Tsonga said.
“I’m not too worried about my (14th) 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, who earned revenge in the quarter-finals as he beat Grigor Dimitrov five days after the Bulgarian won the Sofia event at the Belgian’s expense, will be facing Herbert for the first time.

Young ousts Isner in Memphis
American John Isner became the latest seed to be upset at the ATP Tour’s Memphis Open on Friday as the second seed lost in three sets to unheralded Donald Young. The world No. 81 Young posted his first career win over Isner in four meetings by outlasting the fellow American 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (8/6) to reach the semi-finals.
Isner was the last remaining seed in the tournament as none of the top seeds reached the semis.
“He’s beaten me every time we’ve played, so I wanted to finally get one of these wins. I’m glad I stayed calm and played through some tightness to come out on top,” said Young in his on-court interview.  
“It always come down to a couple of points here and there with John, but luckily I was able to win those points today.”
There were no break points for either Young or Isner in the first or third sets, while Isner recorded the lone break of the match up 4-3 in the second set.
Young raced to a 6/3 lead in the final-set tie-break, but double faulted on his third match point at 6/5.
He managed to get another chance at 7/6 and took full advantage, forcing a volley error from Isner to pick up the victory in two hours and 26 minutes.
Young improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Isner to 1-3.
The Atlanta native is making his 10th consecutive appearance in Memphis and has excelled here in recent years, reaching the 2015 semi-finals and 2016 quarter-finals.
He will take the court on Saturday against the winner Ryan Harrison, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Damir Dzumhur. The American has yet to drop a set this week and is now through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since Acapulco in February 2015. Young and Harrison are even in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry at 1-1, but haven’t played each other in two years.
Mikhail Kukushkin continued his hot streak in Memphis, powering into the semi-finals with a convincing 6-0, 6-4 win over fourth seed Steve Johnson.
“It means a lot for me to be back on tour and playing good. It’s been a few years since my last semi-final, so I’m really happy with this week,” said Kukushkin. “I’ve played quite well here for two years in a row, so the conditions really suit my game.”
Kukushkin dropped just 10 points in shutting out Johnson to take the opening set.
The American found his form in the second set and sprinted to a 4-1 lead, but Kukushkin responded brilliantly by winning five consecutive games to prevail in 70 minutes.
The unseeded player evens his FedEx ATP Head2Head record with Johnson at 2-2.
Kukushkin has been in dominant form this week, dropping just 14 games in three matches. He is now into his first ATP World Tour semi-final since Sydney in January 2015.
Next up for Kukushkin is Nikoloz Basilashvili, a 7-6(3), 6-4 winner over qualifier Matthew Eden.
The Georgian player showed impressive fighting spirit in rallying from 1-4 down in the opening set and from a break down at 2-3 in the second set. Basilashvili has also been in top form this week, having taken out top seed Ivo Karlovic in a second-round victory on Thursday.
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