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Clinical Andy into third Queens Final
Andy has reached his third AEGON Championships final after a hard fought win over Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.
In a match that saw two of the ATP tours biggest hitters go toe to toe, it was a close affair from the outset. Both players were trading shots from the baseline exceptionally well, and the long rain delays that prevented the players from stepping onto the court until the early hours of Saturday evening, appeared to have little affect on their focus. Andy had few opportunities to break in the first set, and when opportunities arose, his French opponent produced some strong tennis to hold. Despite his strong start to the match it was Andy who was to broken first when the scores were level at 4-4, leading to Tsonga serving and holding to take the first set from Andy 4-6.
The second set continued to produce some extraordinary tennis from both players, and both players were holding serve well. Andy appeared to be completely undeterred by losing the first set and began to really dig his heels in crucially breaking Tsonga mid way through the second set. Andy held serve well again to force Tsonga to serve to stay in the set however Andy was simply too strong and broke the Frenchman for a second time, sending the match into a deciding set.
A visibly confident Andy, came out flying in the third set and wasted little time in asserting himself, pulling apart his opponents poor shot selection to secure a double break and then hold his own serve emphatically to and take a commanding 5-1 lead. Tsonga held well in the seventh game of the third set however there was a air of damage limitation about the Frenchman’s game, and with that Andy held strongly to secure his place in the final for a third time.
Speaking after the match Andy paid tribute to the fans after a frustrating day of poor weather, saying, “I managed to turn that match around against a top player, he’s one of the best grass court players in the world. I really appreciate that people stuck around because I know it’s been a frustrating day.”
Andy will now play defending champion Marin Cilic in tomorrows final, which has been moved forward to 1200pm to avoid the predicted rain delays on Sunday afternoon.