Nalbandian, Tsonga to face off in the finals at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris

Eighth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian (pictured) moved within one match of qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai on Saturday after defeating No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, in two hours and five minutes at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. The defending champion will look to win a second straight title in Paris on Sunday when he faces French star and No. 13 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who continued his magical run in France with a, 6-3, 6-4, victory over eleventh-seeded American James Blake.

A Wimbledon finalist in 2002, Nalbandian got off to an extremely quick start against his Russian opponent, winning the first set in a compelling 28 minutes. In the opening set, the World No. 8 was able to break Davydenko’s serve twice, while saving three break points that he faced on his own serve. After Nalbandian quickly broke serve to go up 2-1 in the second set, Davydenko responded and immediately broke back to even the set at 2-2. In the 12th game of the set, Davydenko broke Nalbandian at love to claim the second set 7-5. In the seventh game of the final set, Nalbandian broke serve on his first break point chance and would eventually win his next two service games to win the set 6-4 and earn a spot in the final. The 26-year-old now owns a 6-4 series record against Davydenko, while improving to 43-15 on the season, which includes a 14-2 record on indoor courts.

“It was tough. I mean the first set didn't look like, because I just play great and he made some unforced errors and I take the chances that he gave me,” said Nalbandian. “In the second and third set he start serving better, and very good rallies for both. He hit a lot of lines, and it's okay. I played great.”

En route to earning a spot in his sixth career Masters Series final, Nalbandian defeated three straight Top 10 players, which included No. 9 Juan Martin Del Potro, No. 4 Andy Murray and now World No. 6 Davydenko. Nalbandian, who recently won the singles title at the Stockholm Open in Sweden, is looking to become the first back-to-back winner at the Paris event since it started being held at the Bercy venue in 1986. The Argentina Davis Cup star has won nine titles throughout his professional career.

Tsonga showed no signs of fatigue after a thrilling three set win over No. 7 Andy Roddick on Friday, as he vigorously took care of Blake in straight sets. Throughout the 67-minute match, Tsonga smashed 12 aces, won 89 percent of his first service points, dropped only six second serve points and was able to break serve three times. The American who was hoping to win the title in Paris and clinch a spot at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, only won 70 percent of his first serve points and did not have any break point opportunities throughout the match.

“I know it's going to be difficult, because David has a good return,” said Tsonga. “Of course for me it's going to be difficult. But it's a final, and you never know what's happened at this moment. So I will do my best and I will see what's happen.”

The talented Frenchman improves his season record to 32-12, which includes winning the Thailand Open in Bangkok and reaching the finals at the Australian Open. Tsonga is looking to become the first French player to win a Masters Series shield since Sebastien Grosjean defeated Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov to win the Paris event.

On advancing to the final at his countries Masters Series event, Tsonga said, “It's just very special. It's like a dream. All my small career I dream like every day about to play a final in France. So for me it's going to be maybe the best moment of my life. So I will l just do my best for that.”

Currently ranked No. 14 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, Tsonga has never played in a Masters Series final and will be facing Nalbandian for the first time in his career. The winner of Sunday’s singles final will earn the final spot in the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai. Recent reports indicate that even if Nalbandian wins tomorrow and earns the final spot, he might not compete in the year-end championship since he wants to get ready for the following week’s Davis Cup final between his native Argentina and Spain.