Tsonga clinches Davis Cup final berth for France

France’s top tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came from a set down against the lesser ranked Dusan Lajovic to win in four sets and lead his country into the final of the Davis Cup.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won both his singles matches during the semi-final against Serbia. Reuters/Pascal Rossignol

Tsonga, 32, won 2-6 6-2 7-6 6-2 in just under three hours at the Stade Pierre Mauroy at Villeneuve d’Ascq in northern France.

The hosts advance to the final of the men’s team competition for the second time in three years.

A French team including Tsonga lost to a Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka inspired Switzerland in 2014. In Novermber they will either host Belgium or venture to Australia in their hunt for their first Davis Cup crown since 2001 and their ninth overall.

Lajovich, 27, and rated 80th in the ATP rankings caused an upset on the first day of the tie by beating the world number 22 Lucas Pouille in four sets to give Serbia a 1-0.

Tsonga levelled with a straight sets victory over 22-year-old Laslo Djere. France’s doubles pair of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert – winners of 10 ATP titles including the 2015 US Open and 2016 Wimbledon – eclipsed the inexperienced Serbian duo of Filip Krajinovic and Nenad Zimonjic to give France a 2-1 lead.

Though Tsonga was expected to prevail on Sunday, he produced a string of errors to concede his opening service game of the match. A fightback failed to materialise and the veteran lost his serve again while trailing 2-4. Lajovich served out confidently to take a shock lead.

Tsonga was just as dominant in the second set to level the match. After saving two break points at 4-4, Tsonga eventually won the third set tiebreak and was in cruise throughout the fourth.