JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Seeded favorites Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Ferrer cruised to easy wins and spots in the SA Tennis Open semifinals on Friday.
Top-seeded Tsonga beat seventh-seeded Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-4, 6-1, while second-seeded Ferrer defeated eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
On Saturday, Tsonga will meet unseeded Frederico Gil of Portugal, playing in his first ATP semifinals, while Ferrer faces fifth-seeded Jeremy Chardy.
Tsonga started slow before taking advantage of a double fault that turned the momentum. He then raced through the second set in 21 minutes.
Ferrer also started slow but broke in the 11th game when Baghdatis sent a backhand long. The Spaniard then broke twice more in the second set and saved the only break point he faced.
Chardy beat Sebastien de Chaunac 7-6 (4), 6-3 in an all-French match, and Gil upset fourth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Top-seeded Tsonga beat seventh-seeded Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-4, 6-1, while second-seeded Ferrer defeated eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
On Saturday, Tsonga will meet unseeded Frederico Gil of Portugal, playing in his first ATP semifinals, while Ferrer faces fifth-seeded Jeremy Chardy.
Tsonga started slow before taking advantage of a double fault that turned the momentum. He then raced through the second set in 21 minutes.
Ferrer also started slow but broke in the 11th game when Baghdatis sent a backhand long. The Spaniard then broke twice more in the second set and saved the only break point he faced.
Chardy beat Sebastien de Chaunac 7-6 (4), 6-3 in an all-French match, and Gil upset fourth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (5), 6-3.
