STOCKHOLM – Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to reach the Stockholm Open semifinals.
The seventh-ranked Frenchman, playing in the Swedish capital for the first time, put on an impressive display of serve and volley tennis to line up a meeting on Saturday with 2009 champion Marcos Baghdatis.
Baghdatis edged Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Leading 5-3 in the second set, Tsonga squandered four match points on Stakhovsky's serve. But on his serve, Tsonga finished with a powerful forehand winner on the fifth match point.
Nicolas Almagro beat Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-4 to secure a semifinals place. He will play either Czech Tomas Berdych or Mikhail Youzhny.
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