Saturday, September 22, 2012
Seppi end Monfils comeback run in Metz semis
PARIS (Reuters) - Italy's Andreas Seppi reached the final of the Metz Open when he ended the hopes of Gael Monfils in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Monfils, who returned to action this week after being sidelined by a knee injury since late May, started strongly but faltered physically, losing 3-6 6-1 6-4.
Andreas Seppi of Italy hits a return to Tommy Robredo of Spain during their men's singles match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York August 29, 2012. REUTERS/Eduardo MunozWorld number 28 Seppi completed victory after one hour and 41 minutes on his first match point and will face either top seed and defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France or Russian eighth seed Nikolay Davydenko.
Former world number seven Monfils, down at 69th in the rankings, relied on his powerful first serve to grab the first set without giving his opponent a break point.
Seppi fought back to dominate the second set, forcing a visibly tiring Monfils into some extended baseline rallies.
Monfils hung on in the deciding set but the decisive breakthrough came in the fifth game when he stroked a forehand wide to give Seppi the advantage.
Seppi held on to his serve to book his place in Sunday's final, his third of the year.
(Writing by Gregory Blachier; Editing by Martyn Herman)
- Mixed reaction to Chong Wei’s remarks on Lin Dan’s wild card
- Formula One: Increased venom as F1 tyre war erupts again
- Badminton: Coaches voice out frustration over new lighting system at Putra Stadium at Bukit Jalil
- Cai Lin breaks 200m freestyle record
- Djokovic crashes in Rome, ailing Sharapova pulls out, Federer wins
- China play it cool; Past records mean nothing, says chief coach Yongbo
- Learn Spanish Hafizh as part of plan to conquer MotoGP
- Table tennis: Leading Chinese quartet power into last 16 of world meet
- Shankar hopes Sri Lanka will shine at Sudirman Cup
- KLHC don’t want final to go into extra-time or shootout
- O'Gara retires to take up coaching role
- Shields up to push claim for higher honours
- Dane Hoyer Larsen elected BWF president
- Crusaders slap down upstart Blues in soggy Christchurch
- Cycling: Leader Van Garderen wins California time trial
- Golf: Keegan Bradley maintains Byron Nelson lead
- Golf: Korda seizes lead at Mobile Bay LPGA
- Bradley stays in charge, Guan exits
- Hall of Famer Venturi dies aged 82
- Formula One: Increased venom as F1 tyre war erupts again
RSS
