Tsonga tops Nalbandian at Paris Masters

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PARIS -- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat defending champion David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 Sunday to win the Paris Masters and qualify for the season-ending Masters Cup. The 13th-seeded Tsonga clinched his second career title and becomes the first Frenchman since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001 to win the indoor tournament in Bercy. He clinched victory when Nalbandian hit the ball into the net after having missed three break points to pull back to 5-5. "I think everyone contributed to my victory today, this one's for you," Tsonga told the home crowd. "This ends a great season for me. I've played really well and the cherry on the cake is that I will go to Shanghai." Nalbandian was gracious in defeat. "He's a great player and has played brilliantly all week," Nalbandian said. "He deserves this title." Tsonga joins seven other players for the Masters Cup in Shanghai, starting Nov. 9, while Nalbandian missed his chance to qualify. The eighth-seeded Nalbandian had only four aces compared to 25 for Tsonga, the Australian Open runner-up. Tsonga broke Nalbandian's serve for a 2-1 lead in the deciding set, and saved a break point in the sixth game with an ace. Nalbandian's frustration showed in the eighth game when he slammed his racket to the ground. But he kept his composure to hold serve in the ninth game and then had Tsonga down 0-40. Tsonga saved all three break points, then hit an ace to set up match point and get the crowd on their feet. Tsonga's first serve flew into the net, but his second pinned Nalbandian to the back of the court before winning the resulting rally. Nalbandian couldn't match Tsonga's whirlwind start to the match, dropping serve with a double fault to trail 2-0 in the first set. The 23-year-old Frenchman was rarely troubled on serve, needing to save only one break point in the seventh game. Nalbandian served an ace to save a break point in the opening game of the second set. Both players then found their range, with four straight love service games. Tsonga's level started to dip. In the eighth game, he fell to 0-40 on serve before rallying with four aces to hold for 4-4. But he was 0-40 down again in the 10th game, and Nalbandian broke him to level the match.