VIENNA (AP) Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga outlasted the 149th-ranked Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) Friday to reach the semifinals of the Erste Bank Open.
Tsonga will take on Robin Haase of the Netherlands for a place in Sunday's final, while second-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany faces Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic in the other semifinal.
The eighth-ranked Frenchman, who won the event in 2011, missed a match point at 5-4 in the final set but converted his second chance in the tiebreaker after 2 hours, 15 minutes as Thiem hit a forehand long.
"I was really poor from the baseline but I served well," said Tsonga, who had 16 aces. "I have played many matches like this so I have the experience. That made the difference. I am not in a good shape, I have to fight to win matches."
The 20-year-old Thiem, who played in only his second quarterfinal, said the match was "unbelievable."