Tsonga Looks To End Title Drought Against Soderling

© Henk KosterRobin Soderling is one win away from defending his Rotterdam title.

World No. 18 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached his first ATP World Tour final since October 2009 on Saturday when he defeated Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4, 7-6(6) in the semi-finals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.

The Frenchman has endured a 15-month title drought since winning his fifth ATP World Tour title in Tokyo (d. Youzhny) in 2009 and will contest his sixth tour-level final (5-1 record). He battled injury for much of the second part of last season, after suffering a left knee patella tear at Wimbledon.

Attempting to overturn a 1-2 record against Ljubicic, Tsonga made a decisive early move as he broke the seventh seed’s serve in the fifth game to win the opening set. Ljubicic fought back in the second set, though, as he established a 5-2 lead. However, when serving to level the match at 5-3 Ljubicic was broken to love by Tsonga, and the Frenchman went on to clinch victory in the ensuing tie-break after one hour and 36 minutes.

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“I’m happy to win today; it was difficult to play against Ivan because he didn’t give me any rhythm,” said Tsonga. “At the end of the day I did a job, and I will play the final here, which is really good because I haven’t played a final in a long time. It’s going to be really good for my confidence. I think I’m on a good way to finding my best level and I’ll continue to work and hope I’ll continue to win too.”

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The 31-year-old Ljubicic was bidding to reach the final of the ATP World Tour 500 indoor tennis tournament for the third time after runner-up finishes in 2005 (l. to Federer) and 2007 (l. to Youzhny). He dropped to a 6-3 match record on the season.

In the final, eighth seed Tsonga will face defending champion and top seed Robin Soderling, who beat Serbian Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-4. The Swede relinquished a 4-1 lead in the first set, but broke Troicki again in the 12th game to clinch the opener. Troicki stayed with Soderling in the early stages of the second set, but came under more and more pressure from the Swede. Eventually, after saving three break points in the eighth game, the Serbian succumbed in the 10th game as Soderling claimed victory in 74 minutes.

“It was really good today,” said Soderling. “I think I stepped it up a little bit; I was serving well and hitting the ball well, so I’m really happy with the match.”

Soderling goes into the clash against Tsonga with the confidence of holding a 3-0 career lead over the Frenchman, with two of those wins coming on hard court.

Tsonga vs Soderling FedEx ATP Head2Head

“He’s a great player and he’s been playing well lately,” said Soderling. “I have to play at least the same way I did today. I have to be aggressive and take the initiative, that’s when I play my best tennis. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a tough match and it will be a point here or there that decides it. So I have to be ready in the important moments.”

World No. 4 Soderling is chasing his second ATP World Tour title of the season, and the eighth of his career, after triumphing in Brisbane (d. Roddick) in the first week of the year. The 26 year old won his first of two ATP World Tour titles in 2010 at Rotterdam, defeating Mikhail Youzhny in the final.