TENNIS in DEPTH.

All three players earned their spots for the tournament in London after Berdych beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 7-5, 6-4 Thursday in the third round of the Paris Masters. Tipsarevic needed to win the title in Paris to qualify for the season-ending event, which starts on Nov. 20.

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and David Ferrer have already qualified for the tournament for the top eight players in the world.

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With three spots still up for grabs in the chase to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the fate of several players’ year-end championships hopes will come down to their performances this week. No. 6 Tomas Berdych, No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and No. 8 Mardy Fish all control their own destiny – reach the final and they’re guaranteed a berth to London. Nicolas Almagro (9th) and Janko Tipsarevic (11th) each need to make the final to have a shot at qualifying. Frenchmen Gilles Simon (12th) and Gael Monfils (14th) have to win the title to keep their hopes alive.

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took a giant step towards cementing his place at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals after coming from behind to beat Juan Martin Del Potro in the final of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Top seed Tsonga found himself a set and a break down but rallied to record a 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 6-4 triumph on Sunday. The victory, Tsonga’s second of the season and seventh overall, lifts the Frenchman up to seventh in the world rankings with the world’s top eight qualifying for the ATP finals in London. Former US Open champion Del Potro, who is now 9-4 in career finals, is still waiting for his first victory at an indoor event. Del Potro looked to be in control of the match after winning the opening set on a tie-break and breaking for a 2-1 lead in the second, but Tsonga reeled off four straight games on his way to levelling the contest. In the final set, Tsonga stepped up on serve, firing nine of his 25 aces to win 80 per cent of his service points. He broke his Argentinian opponent in the seventh game and closed out the match with a love service game. ”That was really tough,” said Tsonga. “Juan Martin played very well. ”I lost a little motivation after losing the first set but fortunately I got it back quickly.”

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World number 10 Tsonga, playing in his homeland, has returned to form this year after overcoming injury problems and this was his first ATP title since winning in Tokyo nearly two years ago. Croatian Ljubicic, ranked 29 in the world, had enjoyed a 3-2 advantage over Tsonga in their previous five career meetings ahead of the final. Tsonga’s victory improved his chances of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London in November. He is currently lying seventh in the singles rankings with four qualification spots available. Tsonga hit seven aces and broke Ljubicic’s serve in the first and seventh games in a 38-minute first set. He could have opened up a 5-1 lead in the second set but Ljubicic staged a revival and from 4-2 down Ljubicic won three of the next four games as the set headed for a tie-break. Tsonga took a 4-2 lead in the tie-break but Ljubicic won five straight points to take the set and the level the match. Tsonga regained his composure to break Ljubicic’s serve in the third and ninth games of the deciding set to take the title.

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Ivan Ljubicic blasted down 26 aces on his way to a 7-6 7-6 victory over Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in the semi-finals of the Moselle Open in Metz, France. World number 29 Muller set the tone by sending down four aces in the opening game, but Ljubicic quickly overhauled him and the 32-year-old veteran rallied from 3-2 down in the tiebreaker to win the next five points and take the first set 7-3. It was a similar story in the second set as the service dominated Muller finished the match with 18 aces, but he could not handle Ljubicic’s delivery. The end came when Muller sent a backhand volley wide to give Ljubicic a match point at 5-5 in the second breaker, which the fourth seed converted with yet another ace. Ljubicic will face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday’s final after the top seed beat Ukrainian third seed Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4 6-4 in the second semi-final. World number 10 Tsonga has returned to form this year after battles against injury but remains without an ATP title since winning in Tokyo nearly two years ago, and will be hopeful of breaking that sequence on Sunday after coming through his last-four clash in one hour and 17 minutes. The Frenchman managed two breaks to Dolgopolov’s one to take the opening set, while a lone break in the second was sufficient to wrap up the victory with Tsonga’s own service game looking rock solid. Tsonga’s hopes of landing his first ATP crown since October 2009 will be firmly tested on Sunday, with Ljubicic enjoying a 3-2 advantage in five career meetings. World number 29 Ljubicic will be bidding for his 11th career title but his first of the year.

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Roger Federer avenged his Wimbledon defeat with a 6-4 6-3 6-3 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to set up a semi-final rematch with Novak Djokovic at the US Open. Frenchman Tsonga had come from two sets down to beat Federer in the last eight at the All England Club, the only player to manage such a feat at a grand slam, but in truth a repeat never looked on the cards in the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium. A rain interruption, the first of the day, briefly held up the third seed’s charge but he did not allow Tsonga to take charge in the match and in the end it was a comfortable victory. The players came out as scheduled but after only five games the rain returned to Flushing Meadows. It looked like they may have to come back on Friday but eventually the sky cleared and the court was dried. There had been enough time for Federer to break the Tsonga serve but he promptly gave away his advantage on the resumption. However, the 11th seed was broken again for 5-4 when he netted a volley and that was enough for Federer to take the first set. Tsonga had also beaten the 16-time grand slam champion in their most recent meeting in Montreal last month but Federer was relentless in his attacking, not allowing his opponent to get into a rhythm on his huge groundstrokes. In the second set the Swiss moved two breaks ahead but Tsonga responded by retrieving one immediately and at last he was pushing Federer. The 30-year-old stood firm, though, and another break gave him the set. He would still have been wary, of course, given his Wimbledon experience, and Tsonga forced a break point in the fifth game of the third set – but he could not take it. Federer was serving superbly, much to the frustration of his opponent, and once again it was Tsonga was cracked in the eighth game. Three huge forehands took Federer to 15-40 but twice he missed his chance and on a third break point the Frenchman came up with an ace. But he followed up with a simple volley into the net and a double fault sealed his fate. Federer’s victory means he will play Djokovic in the last four for the second year in a row, with the Serb saving match points to triumph 12 months ago before losing in the final to Rafael Nadal.

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It was the sort of match that could have tripped up the pre-2011 Djokovic but, although it was not easy for the world number one, he never looked in any danger. Not that the Serb has any reason to fear anyone after a season that has brought nine titles, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and only two defeats. Djokovic, who dropped only two games in the previous round against Carlos Berlocq, began well, breaking Davydenko in the fourth game. The Serb’s powers of defence really are extraordinary and, although Davydenko has made a career of toughing out rallies, his opponent was simply on another level.

Djokovic, who next faces Alexandr Dolgopolov, finished his on-court interview with a dance but he was not entirely happy with his performance. He said: “I played well in the important moments and managed to make crucial breaks in all three sets. He was playing very aggressively and I was aware of that before. I was very passive so I wasn’t really happy with the game. ”I didn’t feel great from the back of the court but I knew what to play and that’s what matters the most.” On 22nd seed Dolgopolov, he added: “He’s an up-and-coming player, he hits the ball really well, really hard. He’s quite similar to Davydenko in that respect. I need to be focused from the first point.”

Eighth seed Mardy Fish did not have things all his own way against 6ft 8in South African Kevin Anderson but he kept his nerve when it counted to win 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3). The 29-year-old now faces a very tricky test against 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who has been in superb form and won a big-hitting contest with Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 6-3 7-5 6-4 on Saturday night.

Federer, meanwhile, will meet Argentina’s Juan Monaco after he ended the run of veteran Tommy Haas, beating the 33-year-old German 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-2 6-3.

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga enjoyed smooth progress into the second round of the US Open on Tuesday. The Frenchman, who famously came from two sets down to beat Roger Federer in SW19 earlier this summer, eased past Yen-Hsun Lu in New York, winning 6-4 6-4 6-4. Tsonga used his big-hitting game to fend off his Taiwanese opponent, smashing 39 winners past him on Flushing Meadows’ Grandstand court. Having broken serve once in each of the opening two sets, Tsonga looked set to wrap up victory when he raced 4-0 ahead in the third. However, Lu then produced his best tennis of the match to break Tsonga for the first time, but although he reduced the deficit to 4-3 another break proved beyond the world number 82. Tsonga, who also beat Federer in Montreal recently, could meet the Swiss again in the quarter-finals of this tournament, although he may first have to get past in-form American Mardy Fish at the last-16 stage.

Fifth seed David Ferrer had more of a struggle. He needed to come from a set down to see off Igor Andreev in four. The Spaniard made an awful start on Louis Armstrong Stadium but losing the first set seemed to give him the kick he needed. Ferrer, a semi-finalist in New York in 2007, turned things around to win 2-6 6-3 6-0 6-4.

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