Tsonga reaches first clay-court final in Lyon

Tomas Berdych stands between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and his first career clay-court title in Lyon.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame a second-set wobble to reach his first clay-court final at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon by beating Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Basilashvili surprisingly forced a decider against the home hope, breaking the Frenchman twice in the second set.

But Tsonga responded magnificently in the third, rattling off four straight games to move a win away from a third title of 2017 with a 6-2 3-6 6-1 triumph.

It will not be top seed Milos Raonic who he faces in the final, though, after Tomas Berdych won the other semi-final in straight sets.

Raonic had won five of the previous seven meetings between the two, including their showdown in Rome last week.

But it was Berdych who edged Friday's last-four contest, winning two tie-breaks to prevail 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-2).

World number six Raonic knocked down 17 aces, but paid the price in the first set for spurning three set points on Berdych's serve.

He then forged a 3-1 lead in the tie-break, but won just two more points as Berdych took the set. 

Raonic was able to break Berdych in the second for a 2-1 lead, only to see that disappear as the Czech struck back three games later and then went to dominate in the second tie-break.