French tennis player Jo Wilfried Tsonga has reached the Open 13 Provence in Marseille finals after outclassing rising Nick Kyrgios on Saturday. Tsonga needed three sets to prevail over the talented Australian in the semi-finals clash 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-4. Frenchman Tsonga will be bidding to win his third Marseille title - he previously made it all the way at the tournament in 2009 and 2013. He will be meeting a local player on Sunday, as the remaining semi-finals clash of Marseille will be featuring Lucas Pouille and Richard Gasquet.
Tsonga hit 7 aces on the match - converted 2 out of 8 of his break point chances, while saving 5 out of 8 of Kyrgios' break point opportunities.
On the other side, Kyrgios notched 16 aces, converted 3 out of 8 of his break point chances - but fell short eventually. The match lasted two hours and 12 minutes.
Tsonga caught fire recently
Jo Wilfried Tsonga is coming off a week where he went all the way at an ATP event. The 31-year-old had a victorious run last week at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, after defeating Belgium's David Goffin in the finals. Prior to the Rotterdam event, Tsonga was yet to win an ATP title since Metz 2015. There is a good chance of seeing the world number 11 winning Marseille and completing back-to-back titles. Never in the past did the Frenchman win two ATP events in a row.
Kyrgios' dominance in Marseille comes to an end
Tsonga was the first player ever to outgun Nick Kyrgios in Marseille. Kyrgios, who had his debut appearance at the Open 13 Provence in 2016, won it all a year ago. It was Kyrgios' maiden ATP title. The 21-year-old Australian won seven matches in Marseille in overall, before getting beaten by the Frenchman on Saturday.
Kyrgios will for now stay on three ATP titles - which he won during the 2016 season. However, it was the best result of the season for Kyrgios, who will have to make a trip to Acapulco - as he is set to play at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament next week. He will be debuting at the Mexican ATP 500 event.
