Goffin, Tsonga dominate en route to Rotterdam title match

David Goffin had been one victory away from the top 10 once before in his career. In fact, the Belgian would have soared to No. 7 in the rankings with a French Open quarterfinal victory over Dominic Thiem last spring. In that battle, though, he succumbed to Thiem after taking the first set.

With another chance to secure a place in the top 10, Goffin was not about to make same mistake again at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Saturday. The world No. 11 got off to a fast start in his semifinal showdown against Pierre-Hugues Herbert and never looked back, clobbering the qualifier 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 14 minutes.

Goffin earned 10 break-point chances against the net-charging Herbert, capitalized on four of them, and fought off the only break point he faced on his own serve.

Highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mEBcEKGxB8

Thus a second consecutive final appearance is in store for Goffin on Sunday, as he previously fell to Grigor Dimitrov at the last hurdle in Sofia. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the man in Goffin’s way this time around. Regardless of the result, Goffin will be in the top 10 for the first time ever on Monday and will reach No. 7 with a victory.

Tsonga clinched his spot in the title match by crushing Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 12 minutes. The Frenchman did not face any break points while cracking 10 aces compared to just one double-fault. He served at 64 percent and won 88 percent of his first-serve points.

“It was a good match–(I) played pretty solid on my serve, which is good for my game,” Tsonga commented. “When I’m serving like this I’m able to create a bit more on the return and be a bit more offensive. (I’m) just really happy to be in the final. Now it’s the last step, and it’s not an easy one so I’m already focused on the next match.”

Tsonga interview:

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