Berdych beats Roddick in Tokyo to set up Finals match against Del Potro

Juan Martin Del Potro continued his outstanding tennis results by edging No. 4 seed Richard Gasquet, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, in the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo to advance to the finals. No. 9 seed Tomas Berdych (pictured) also advanced to the finals by shocking No. 2 seed Andy Roddick in a three set thriller.

Del Potro smashed 14 aces and only three double faults, while losing only 8 points on his first serve throughout the match. Gasquet hammered 13 aces, while hitting three double faults. The key statistic that stands out from the roughly two-hour match was that the Argentine broke serve on four occasions, while Gasquet was only able to break serve twice. Del Potro earned his 29th win in his last 30 matches, including four singles titles since losing at Wimbledon. Those titles were captured in Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, Los Angeles and Washington.

"I told myself to keep fighting until the end and I would get a chance to break him which happened in the last game," said Del Potro. "I am very tired, we played a long match with long points but I am very happy to have beaten such a good player and to be in another final. I will have time to rest and recover before the final."

Due to his performance this week in Tokyo, Del Potro is guaranteed to break into the Top 10 in the South African Airways ATP Ranking for the first time in his career. He will move up from No. 12 to No. 9 when the rankings are released on Monday morning. The Argentine is attempting to become the first player to win his first five singles titles on the ATP Tour since Sjeng Schalken accomplished it in 2000. Ironically enough, Schalken won his fifth title at this event eight years ago.

Gasquet was attempting to reach his 12th career ATP singles final with the most recent one happening in July when he lost to Del Potro in Stuttgart. The 22-year-old Frenchman falls to 30-20 on the season.

In the semifinal from the lower portion of the draw, Berdych upset Roddick, 6-7(3), 7-5, 7-6(3), in a match that lasted two hours and thirteen minutes. Despite Roddick hitting 25 aces compared to Berdych’s 17 aces and winning one more point than the Czech Republic native, the World No. 27 was able to come back from a 3-5 hole in the final set, while Roddick had a chance to win the match on his serve. The owner of three career ATP singles titles, Berdych is looking to win his first title since winning the 2007 Halle title against Marcos Baghdatis. Berdych’s record on the year is now 31-19 after the victory. Roddick, the China Open winner last week and owner of 26 career ATP titles, falls to 44-14 on the year.

"It is disappointing and frustrating as I think I had the match in my hands twice and let it slip away from me," said Roddick.

Roddick, who will next play at the Masters Series Madrid in two weeks, will stay at No. 6 in the ATP 2008 Race standings for a spot in the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. Berdych will most likely miss out on making the year-end tournament, but currently has an outside chance now being only 133 points behind No. 8 James Blake after this week’s strong performance.