Tsonga, Ferrer stay on track for final showdown in SA

Top seeds Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and David Ferrer of Spain continued their relentless advance yesterday towards the SA Tennis Open final.

Tsonga, Ferrer stay on track for final showdown in SA

Top seeds Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and David Ferrer of Spain continued their relentless advance yesterday towards the SA Tennis Open final.

Crowd favourite and first seed Tsonga took control in the second set en route to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over seventh seed Kristof Vliegen of Belgium at Montecasino entertainment centre.

And second seed Ferrer wore down Paris-based Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis to triumph 7-5, 6-2 in the other centre-court duel watched by a capacity 3,000 crowd.

The big guns were joined in the semi-finals by fifth seed Jeremy Chardy, who defeated Sebastien de Chaunac in an all-French clash, and Portuguese Frederico Gil, a 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 victor over fourth seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.

Tsonga faces tenacious Gil and Ferrer meets Chardy Saturday in the semi-finals of a tournament back on the ATP circuit after a 13-year absence due to a lack of funds.

After seven games with service, Tsonga made the first breakthrough only for Vliegen to bounce straight back courtesy of a top-spin lob that was the shot of the day.

However, Tsonga retaliated by breaking service again to take the opening set as Vliegen double faulted and he cruised through the second with the demoralised Belgian offering little resistance and winning just one game.

On the comeback trail after an injury-plagued last year, 2006 Australian Open runners-up Baghdatis started impressively against Ferrer with his previously suspect first serve in top form.

The first set went with serve until the 12th game where the Cypriot double faulted and was caught out by a superb forehand winner from the Spaniard after a rally.

Baghdatis was not as aggressive in the second set with his serve troubling Ferrer far less and the contest came to an inevitable conclusion after 114 minutes.

Chardy brought the giantkilling run of qualifier De Chaunac to an end with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 victory while Gil always held the edge over Garcia-Lopez after eliminating local favourite Rik de Voest the previous day.

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