Goffin ousts Tsonga; Monfils into Metz SFs
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Metz, France (SportsNetwork.com) - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will not reach a fourth straight final in Metz after losing to rising Belgian David Goffin, while former champion Gael Monfils easily avoided a quarterfinal upset Friday at the Moselle Open tennis event.
The eighth-seeded Goffin came from behind to upend the top-seeded two-time champion Tsonga 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 on the indoor hardcourts at Metz Arena.
Tsonga dominated the first set, smacking five aces and converting both of his break points.
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The players traded breaks in the third before Tsonga saved two break points at 15-40 down in the 11th game. But he missed a chance to win it and Goffin ultimately served out victory on his second match point.
Gilles Simon beat a then reigning two-time titlist Tsonga in last year's all-French finale.
Frenchmen have won five straight and seven of the 11 titles in Metz.
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Meanwhile, the second-seeded Monfils cruised past 6-foot-8 seventh-seeded Pole Jerzy Janowicz 6-3, 6-4 on Day 5.
Monfils titled here in 2009 and was the runner-up in 2005. His semifinal opponent will be sixth-seeded Portuguese Joao Sousa, who outlasted French wild card Paul-Henri Mathieu 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in Friday's nightcap. Mathieu was a Metz runner-up in 2008.
Jan-Lennard Struff was leading fellow German Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-0 in the first set when the third-seeded 2009 Metz runner-up Kohlschreiber retired after just 20 minutes on Friday. Struff will face Goffin in Saturday's semis.
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The 2014 Metz titlist will earn $100,000.