TENNIS in DEPTH.

The top-seeded Czech broke for a 5-3 lead in the final set on a double fault from Monfils, clinching victory with his 12th ace. “It was very close in the end. I’m happy that I was able to do it,” Berdych told Canal Plus television. “Actually, it’s even more special to beat the home player, unfortunately for the crowd.” Berdych relied on a strong serve and deep groundstrokes to go a set up but made several unforced errors to drop the second set. “Tomas had a great match,” Monfils said. “He got off to a good start, so I had less maneuvering room. I tried my best. I tried to return better, I tried to play with a bit more aggression too.”

The 2010 Wimbledon finalist broke Monfils for a 2-0 lead when the Frenchman sent a backhand long. Berdych then saved three break points to hold serve before hitting two consecutive return winners to take the first set. In the second set, Berdych double-faulted to give Monfils a break chance that the Frenchman converted for a 3-2 lead when the Czech’s backhand volley sailed long. Monfils erased three break points at 4-3 and leveled at one set each on a forehand error from Berdych. Berdych had won their only previous meeting four years ago in Dubai.

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Five French players were in quarter-final action in Montpellier on Friday and while three fell by the wayside, both Simon and Monfils reached the last four. Second seed Simon beat compatriot Guillaume Rufin in what was a hard-fought contest which lasted almost three hours. Simon eventually prevailed 7-6 (7/5) 6-7 (2/7) 6-2 with his opponent’s game undermined by 11 double faults. Monfils, seeded three, has things easier, defeating veteran Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 6-3. Monfils lost just six points on his own serve and did not face a break point in the 54-minute match. The French pair will now face off on Saturday.

Top seed Tomas Berdych also eased through, seeing off another of the home hopes, Nicolas Mahut, 6-3 6-4. Richard Gasquet had hoped to complete a semi-final line-up featuring the top four seeds but he fell to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the last match of the day. Gasquet went down 6-2 3-6 6-3 as his German opponent blasted down 18 aces.

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Gael Monfils set up an All-French final at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open Friday, defeating World No. 2 Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4 in Doha. Monfils will meet countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Saturday’s title match. “It’s always really tough to play against Jo because he has a powerful game, and kind of game [where] it’s tough to manipulate him from the baseline,” Monfils said. ”I need just to focus on my game and focus on my mind. It’s always tougher to be like this in the final against a friend. You want to show him you’re the best, and sometimes, you’re going too fast, and sometimes you’re a bit shaky. You have to find a balance.” Monfils won the first set after converting the lone break point opportunity of the set in the sixth game. Nadal regrouped to begin the second set, taking a 4-1 lead before Monfils picked up his level of play. During one stretch, Monfils hit 19 consecutive first serves in play. He broke Nadal in back-to-back return games to move ahead 5-4, and closed out the one hour and 36 minute victory on his third match point. “I just focused on my game and being aggressive,” said Monfils. “Today everything worked.” With the win, Monfils snapped a five-match losing streak to Nadal; his other win against the 25 year old came in the Doha quarter-finals three years ago.

Tsonga advanced to the final after Roger Federer withdrew prior to their match with a back injury. He holds a 2-1 record against Monfils, but his compatriot won their most recent encounter in Montpellier in 2010.

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His hard-fought victory kept world number 15 Monfils in the hunt for a place in the season-ending ATP World Finals in London. Nieminen saved three match points before driving a forehand wide to lose the contest in just under two hours. The 30-year-old Finn – ranked number 73 – was playing in his third Stockholm final. He lost there 10 years ago to Sjeng Schalken and in 2006 to James Blake, whom he beat in Saturday’s semi-finals. Monfils had been the only member of the world’s top 15 without a title in 2011 until this victory – a repeat of his win over Nieminen in Bangkok three weeks ago.

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Stepanek broke the World No. 7 in the third game of the match to move ahead 2-1 and maintained his advantage, closing out the set with an ace. The Czech converted a break of serve to start the second set, and again held onto his lead, wrapping up the victory in one hour and 33 minutes. Stepanek won 91 per cent of his first service points and did not face a break point. The win snapped Stepanek’s two-match losing streak against Monfils, and he improved to a 3-5 record against the Frenchman. He is the first player from the Czech Republic to win the tournament in 19 years, after Petr Korda took home the crown in 1992. The 32 year old is also the oldest singles champion on the ATP World Tour this season. Stepanek was appearing in his first final since finishing runner-up to Andy Roddick in Brisbane in 2010. Prior to Sunday, the Czech last won a singles title in 2009, at the ATP World Tour 250 event in San Jose. Monfils was contesting his first final of the year.

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Top seed Gael Monfils was made to wait and then made to fight to reach the final of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington. A lengthy rain delay saw his semi-final against John Isner continue into the early hours as the powerful-serving American put up a tough fight. Isner fired in 19 aces but Monfils eventually prevailed 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8/6).

The Frenchman must now hope the late night does not cost him in the final, where he will face the unseeded Radek Stepanek, who completed a 6-3 6-3 victory over Donald Young in far more routine fashion.

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Gael Monfils reached the quarter-finals of the German Open in Hamburg after taking one hour and 22 minutes to dispatch Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-4. Monfils will face an all-French clash with Gilles Simon in the last eight after the fifth seed battled to a tough 7-6 (7/4) 3-6 6-4 win over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in two hours and 19 minutes.

Second seed Jurgen Melzer enjoyed a comfortable 6-2 6-3 win over 15th seed Fabio Fognini of Italy, and third seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 7-5. There was disappointment for the local wild cards with Cedrik-Marcel Stebe falling 7-5 6-2 to eighth seed Fernando Verdasco and Tobias Kamke beaten 3-6 6-3 6-2 by 12th seed Marin Cilic.

Julian Reister lost 6-3 6-3 to fourth seed Mikhail Youzhny, but the home fans were given something to cheer when sixth seed Florian Mayer beat Argentina’s Juan Monaco 7-5 7-5 to advance.

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Top seed Gael Monfils booked his place in the third round of the German Open in Hamburg after taking 72 minutes to cruise past Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos 6-4 6-2. Second seed Jurgen Melzer also progressed with a 6-3 5-7 6-1 win over Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain while third seed Nicolas Almagro is also through after a 6-4 6-4 win over Czech lucky loser Lukas Rosol. Among the seeds to fall was 11th seed Nikolay Davydenko, who went down 6-3 7-6 (7/5) to fast-rising German 20-year-old Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who had beaten former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in round one. Ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic was beaten 6-2 6-4 by Argentina’s Juan Monaco and 16th seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes retired injured when trailing 6-1 3-2 to home favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber. Italian 13th seed Andreas Seppi fell 6-1 7-5 to Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, who will next face Monfils. Eighth seed Fernando Verdasco won his all-Spanish match with Pablo Andujar 6-2 6-3. German sixth seed Florian Mayer beat Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilham 6-4 7-6 (7/5), while 12th seeded Croatian Marin Cilic beat German qualifier Bastian Knittel 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-4.

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