METZ (France): Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will aim for his third straight Open de Moselle title when he plays Gilles Simon in an all-French final on Sunday.
Tsonga rallied past eighth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals on Saturday.
The second-seeded Simon had defeated French countryman Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-6 (2) to stay on course for his first title of the year.
Tsonga’s playing in his first tournament since a knee injury forced him to drop out of the second-round match at Wimbledon.
It’s his first final since winning the Open 13 in Marseille in February for his 10th career title.
Just like in Friday’s quarterfinals, Tsonga took time to find his range and dropped the first set. He looked leg-weary and was broken in his first service game, then struggled to hold his next game as Mayer pinned him to the back of the court with his looped returns. (AP)