Metz: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the final of the Moselle Open on Sunday to win his first title since 2009.
Tsonga hit a backhand drop shot to earn a break point that he converted with a backhand pass down the line to lead 2-1 in the final set. He clinched victory when the big-serving Ljubicic double-faulted on match point.
The Frenchman, whose career has been hampered by injuries, showed he had a strong serve of his own, firing 14 aces past Ljubicic, and breaking him six times in return.
The No. 10-ranked Tsonga won his sixth career title. It was his first since Tokyo two years ago, and improved his chances of earning a spot for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Tsonga broke Ljubicic three times to take the first set on a backhand netted by the Croatian veteran.
Ljubicic, who had not dropped serve on his way to the final, could not repeat his serving heroics from the semi-finals when he fired 26 aces to beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in straight sets on Saturday.
Tsonga seemed in control in the second set, ripping a backhand winner down the line to break serve and lead 3-1, but then double-faulted at 4-2 to help Ljubicic get back into the match.
Ljubicic slammed an ace to even the score at 4-4. He rallied from 4-2 down in the tie-breaker to level at one set apiece with a forehand winner before Tsonga came through the decider.
Meanwhile, Jamie Murray of Britain and Andre Sa of Brazil beat Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-4, 7-6 (7) in the doubles final.
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