VIENNA (AP)—Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame an error-prone start to defeat Xavier Malisse 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 Friday at the Erste Bank Open and reach his eighth semifinal of the season.
Tsonga will play qualifier Daniel Brands, while second-seededJuan Martin Del Potro and Kevin Anderson will meet in the other semifinal.
The ninth-ranked Tsonga, who is chasing a place at next month’s ATP finals, was broken in the opening game and produced a string of mistakes before finding his rhythm toward the end of the second set.
“I lost concentration, but tried to stay calm,” Tsonga said. “I tried my best and did what was most important—fighting and winning.”
Earlier, Anderson defeated two-time defending champion Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-3, 6-3. Anderson, who is ranked 32nd, served 11 aces and broke the third-seeded Melzer three times.
“I have to admit that the better player won today,” said Melzer, who did not get a break point. “I had no idea where he was going to serve. We had maybe five rallies in the whole match, so I could not find any rhythm.”
Anderson won his first title in his native Johannesburg in February. He’ll play his third semifinal of the season.
The 15th-ranked Del Potro beat Tommy Haas of Germany 6-2, 6-4 to reach his first semifinal since winning his ninth career title in April in Estoril, Portugal. He gave up just seven points on serve in the match.
“My form is slowly coming back, it’s getting better every day,” said Del Potro, who had wrist surgery last year. “I am serving better now than in 2009, but I am still working on my game.”
Del Potro said defeating the experienced Haas, who won the event in 2001, was “important for my confidence … The Davis Cup (final against Spain) is on my mind every day. But the important thing now is this tournament and the next match.”
Brands beat Steve Darcis 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first semifinal of the season. The German double-faulted on match point and was broken while leading 5-2. He closed out the match in his next service game.