Black Tennis Pros

METZ, France (AP)Gael Monfils ended a four-year title drought with a 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-2 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in the Open de Moselle final on Sunday.

Monfils served 14 aces and broke the 23rd-ranked Kohlschreiber twice in the third set before closing out the match. The Frenchman had won their previous encounter last year in Vienna Monfils, who reached the fourth round at this year’s U.S. Open, won his second career ATP title following his victory in Sopot, Poland, in 2005.

Kohlschreiber saved three set points in the first set to force a tiebreaker that Monfils concluded at the net with a drop shot.

Kohlschreiber broke Monfils in the sixth game of the second set and leveled with an ace. But the Frenchman finally broke his opponent’s serve twice to improve to 2-6 in ATP finals.

“For a long time people spoke about my lost finals,” Monfils said. “But now the curse is over. I’m happy with this victory. I managed to win, and on top of that it was in France.”

The 13th-ranked Monfils added that he wouldn’t be satisfied “until I win the French Open, which is my ultimate goal.”

The last Frenchman to win the French Open was Yannick Noah, in 1983.

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METZ, France (AP)—Top-seeded Gael Monfils reached the Open de Moselle semifinals when Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia injured his right ankle and retired on Friday.

Next up will be fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who rallied to beat fourth-seeded Philipp Petzschner of Germany 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-3.

Petzschner served 16 aces but Gasquet managed to break him five times.

Monfils and Gasquet, both 23 and based in Switzerland, will meet in Metz for a third time. Both beat the other at the quarterfinal stage en route to reaching the final, Gasquet in 2004 and Monfils in 2005. Gasquet leads 2-1 overall.

Paul-Henri Mathieu was the third Frenchman to advance, reaching the semifinals for a second consecutive year with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over seventh-seeded Andreas Beck of Germany.

The third-seeded Mathieu hit 18 aces and converted three break points.

Mathieu is looking to reach his second final of the year after losing to Nikolay Davydenko in Hamburg. He will next play second-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who beat Evgeny Korolev of Russia 6-1, 6-3.

Kohlschreiber broke Korolev four times and lost only seven points on his serve to oust the Russian in less than an hour.

Mathieu won his only previous meeting with Kohlschreiber, on clay in Gstaad six years ago.

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METZ, France — Top-seeded Gael Monfils reached the Open de Moselle quarter-finals by thrashing fellow Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday.

Following a first-round bye, Monfils fired 10 aces and broke Grosjean six times in their first matchup in three years. Former world No. 4 Grosjean, a wild-card entry ranked 1,147th, underwent shoulder surgery last December and won his first match this week since 2008 Wimbledon. He had four break points in the very first game but was unable to convert them.

Monfils will next face Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, who upset eighth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Ljubicic, who beat Monfils in the 2005 final, fought for nearly two hours before losing to Tipsarevic for the first time.

Fourth-seeded Philipp Petzschner of Germany beat wild card Michael Llodra of France 7-6 (3), 6-3 in their second-round match.

Llodra missed a set point at 5-4 in the first set, then Petzschner raced 5-2 ahead in the second before closing the match on his second match point.

Petzschner reached the Metz quarter-finals for the second time, having advanced to the last eight on his tournament debut in 2003. He will take on Richard Gasquet, who fought more than two hours to edge Belgian Christophe Rochus 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.

The Frenchman is trying to rediscover his form after he endured a ban of two and a half months for testing positive for cocaine at a tournament in Miami in March. Gasquet said he inadvertently ingested the drug by kissing a woman in a nightclub.

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Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga assisted Briton Andy Murray in reaching his first ATP Tour semi-final since March. Murray defeated Tsonga 6-3 6-3 at the Moselle Open.

Murray has had a barren second half to the year after injuring his wrist in Hamburg in May, but he was near his best against Tsonga. Murray broke three times in the first set and a single break was enough to take a tighter second.

Murray will face second seed Guillermo Canas in the last four.

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Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated German Phillip Kohlschreiber today 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3. But that was the least of the excitement at the tournament.

Stefan Koubek was disqualified from the Open de Moselle on Thursday for directing an on-court tirade at a tournament official during a match with Sebastien Grosjean. Koubek, who will face a fine, led 5-7, 7-6 (4), 4-2 when the second-round match was interrupted.

The Austrian was angered after Grosjean protested a linesman's call on his serve. The linesman originally called the shot out but then said he could not be sure.

The chair umpire wanted Grosjean to replay the point, but Koubek asked for supervisor Thomas Karlberg to intervene. The two then argued, and Karlberg said Koubek targeted him with "verbal abuse."

It was not immediately clear what Koubek said during the argument. Koubek declined to comment.

In 2000, Koubek was disqualified from the French Open after throwing his racket at a ball boy.

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France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced to Round 2 of the Open de Moselle in Metz, France by overcoming Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. Tsonga won five games in a row in the third set to accomplish the win.

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After the U. S. Open, and as the year begins to come to a close, tennis action begins to dwindle. But it's not too bad this week:

In action at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany is Serena Williams:








Round 1

Serena Williams, USA vs. Elena Bovina, RUS


In action at the Open de Moselle in Metz, France is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga:

Round 1 - Singles

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA vs Stanislas Wawrinka, SUI


Round 1 - Doubles

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA and Paul Henri Mathieu, FRA vs
Jaroslav Levinsky, CZE and Michal Mertinak, SUI



In action at the AIG Japan Tennis Open Championships in Tokyo is Venus Williams:









Round 1

Venus Williams, USA vs Jill Craybas, USA

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