Gilles Simon beats Nicolas Mahut to reach Open de Moselle final in France

METZ, France – Second-seeded Gilles Simon used a strong serve to beat Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-6 (2) Saturday and reach the Open de Moselle final.

He'll play either two-time defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or eighth-seeded Florian Mayer, who meet later Saturday. This is Tsonga's first tournament since a knee injury forced him to drop out of his second-round match at Wimbledon.

Simon broke Mahut in the fifth game and took the first set when Mahut hit a shot into the net.

Simon did not face a break point for the second consecutive match.