By IANS,
Beijing: World No.7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga eased into his maiden China Open final after Spain’s Feliciano Lopez retired in the last four stage here Saturday.
Frenchman Tsonga took the first set 6-1 and was 4-1 up in the second when Lopez retired due to deteriorating physical condition, Xinhua reports.
Tsonga has been put to the test this week, scraping past Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin after third set tie-breaker in the first round.
“During this week, my level goes better and better. I play one of my best tennis here,” said Tsonga.
“Even if today Feliciano was not in good shape, and even if he has a problem, I played well.”
The right-hander is bidding to win his third ATP World Tour title of the year when he faces either Serbia’s top seed Novak Djokovic or German Florian Mayer in Sunday’s final.
Tsonga owns a 2-0 career record against Mayer but trails Djokovic 5-7.
Talking about his potential final opponent Djokovic, who has defeated him five times in a row since 2011’s Wimbledon semi-finals, Tsonga said, “Novak beat me many times. He is the player who broke my dream. This time I will try to do better.”