Tennis: Nadal back to his best with Tsonga win

Published on Saturday 14 November 2009 10:20

RAFAEL NADAL ended the Paris Masters run of defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals last night to help fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco book his spot at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Tsonga needed to retain his title to deny Verdasco a place at the prestigious eight-man tournament in London later this month, but found Nadal far too consistent and fell to a 7-5, 7-5 defeat.

The world No.2 struggled in his first two matches, saving five match points against Nicolas Almagro before edging out Tommy Robredo, but his form was much improved last night.

The 23-year-old will face Novak Djokovic in a juicy semi-final today after the third seed also did his bit for Verdasco's cause.

Djokovic was a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 winner against Robin Soderling, who would have moved into this year's top eight by reaching the final in Bercy.

The home crowd had something to cheer later in the day when Gael Monfils recovered from a set down to beat Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Monfils will now take on Radek Stepanek, conqueror of Andy Murray, in the semis.

The 30-year-old Czech was 4-0 up on world No.5 Juan Martin del Potro in the last of the day's quarter-finals when the Argentine was forced to retire with what looked like a stomach injury.