The top two seeds and the hottest player on tour are gone, but some big names remain in Rotterdam heading into semifinal action on Saturday. Tomas Berdych is going up against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, while David Goffin is set to face good friend Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
(6) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (4) Tomas Berdych
Berdych and Tsonga will be squaring off for the 12th time in their careers at the ATP level when they battle for a place in the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Friday. They went all of 2016 without facing each other a single time, but this is already their second encounter of this season. Berdych improved to 8-3 lifetime in the head-to-head series by cruising past Tsonga 7-5, 6-3 in the Doha quarters. The 13th-ranked Czech has won four of their last five meetings dating back to the start of the 2014 campaign and each of those victories for Berdych has come in straight sets.
Tsonga, however, has put forth some quality tennis in the early stages of 2017. In addition to his quarterfinal finish in Doha, 14th-ranked Frenchman reached the Australian Open quarters and last week’s Montpellier semis. He is through to another semifinal in Rotterdam thanks to straight-set defeats of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Gilles Muller, and No. 1 seed Marin Cilic. Eager to bounce back from a bad draw in Melbourne (lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in the third round), Berdych is in business once again following straight-set wins over Marius Copil, Montpellier runner-up Richard Gasquet, and 2016 Rotterdam champ Martin Klizan. Berdych has dominated Tsonga for the most part and he is playing this week like he wants that trend to continue.
Pick: Berdych in 3
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(3) David Goffin vs. (Q) Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Herbert has made a run to an ATP final as a qualifier once before, and he is looking do accomplish that feat in Rotterdam. At the 2015 Winston-Salem Open, Herbert won eight matches (three in qualifying) in eight days before falling to Kevin Anderson in the title match. The 109th-ranked Frenchman earned a spot in the main draw this week with victories over Ruben Bemelmans and Botic Van De Zandschulp, and he has parlayed that success into defeats of Feliciano Lopez, Evgeny Donskoy, and No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem.
Up next for Herbert is a first-ever meeting with Goffin, who handed Grigor Dimitrov his second loss of the season via a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 decision on Friday. The 11th-ranked Belgian is a stellar 11-3 on the year and he is coming off a runner-up performance in Sofia. Based on current form and a relatively slow surface, Goffin should be able to fire passing shots left and right past a net-rushing opponent.
Pick: Goffin in 2
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who ya got?
In all seriousness — what I expect: Goffin in 2 and Berdych in 2.
But I’d love a surprise all-French final and so voted.
Definitely like Goffin in straight, and Berd in 3.
Berdych in three and Herbert in three
Whats ur insight on herbert…anyone
not sure how he has reached the semis. Conditions too slow for him to beat Goffin.
Tsonga and Goffin in 3
Congrats to me….yay Tsonga! IN TWO.., brilliant guessing.
Herbert and Goffin are good friends, said an unidentified commentator on Tennis Channel. I’m not sure how that affects anything. Maybe PHH knows how to win….
Goffin and Herbert are BFFs
Sweet 🙂
Hoping it will be on Tennis channel! Gosh…I hope they can make it a good match.
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The match made me nervous. Which has to mean that I’m a hopeless Goffin fan. Only god knows why. I thought I’d at least be happy if PHH made it close or even won – but no — it bothered me that he got 3 sets off Goffin the second set!
Goffin in now top ten (barely) but I believe he’s going to get dusted by Tsonga. This tournament is Tsonga’s to lose – because Tsonga can hit Goffin off the court — if he serves well. And it will break my heart because I did not expect Goffin to get this far and lose another final. Ugh…I so want Goffin to win a 500. Truth be told.
GAMES
he has a great chance against Tsonga. Absolutely no way he gets dusted.
edit: three games PHH got off Goffin ; not sets
Great chance against Tsonga. Well, he did have to beat Jo to win Metz but that wasn’t a final. One of the reasons I picked Tsonga to win Rotterdam is that after losing in Montpellier, it felt like he would make a serious effort for Rotterdam.
I’ll be eating a whole bag of potato chips if I decide to watch.