Tennis

Tsonga to face Gulbis in Open 13 final

Published Feb. 22, 2014 12:04 p.m. ET

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MARSEILLE, France (AP) Defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came through a stern test against 117th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff to win 7-6 (4), 7-5 Saturday, setting up an Open 13 final against third-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia after he upset top-seeded Richard Gasquet of France 6-3, 6-2.

Tsonga was pressured by the German player in both sets.

The Frenchman saved five break points in the first set. Struff broke his opponent at the start of the second set, before saving three break points of his own in the next game.

But Tsonga's experience told when he broke Struff twice at the end of the second set to reach his 19th career final, where he will bid for an 11th title.

He leads 3-1 in career head-to-heads against Gulbis, who has won all four of his previous finals.

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