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Tsonga, Hewitt Claim Spots In Japan Open Semis
Hewitt will face Russia's Mikhail Youzhny who earlier eliminated the defending Japan Open champion Tomas Berdych 6-2, 7-6. Jo-Wilfired Tsonga of France was tested by Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 before booking his spot in the semis. Tsonga, the highest seeded player remaining and world number seven, ended the match with his 19th ace after a controversial line call gave him triple break point. His semifinal opponent will be fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils, who advanced on the strength of a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland. “It’s difficult when a guy is serving well like that,” said Tsonga after the match. “I just tried to stay focused. I had a break at the end of the second set which was good for me because he was a bit nervous after that.” The 8th seeded Hewitt is on the verge of claiming a spot in the world top 20 after falling to as low as 108th after hip surgery in February. “Today the whole second set I served extremely well which made life easier,” said two-time Grand Slam champion Hewitt. The 5th seeded Berdych was furious after the match smashing his racket before walking out of the court. Berdych had defeated Youzhny earlier in Munich. “It’s always close when we play,” Youzhny said. “I lost to him by one point in Munich so I didn’t want that to happen again.” Hewitt is already favored -155 to Youzny's 115 in Japan Open odds. The world number 1 seed Roger Federer did not enter the tournament citing fatigue. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Damon Good is a sports writer for betED online sportsbook. |
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