Llodra, del Potro to meet in Marseille final
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former U.S. Open winner Juan Martin del Potro and Michael Llodra of France each won their respective semifinal matches on Saturday at the Open 13 tennis event.
A fourth-seeded del Potro took down top seed and former champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-7 (9-11), 6-3 in nearly three hours on the indoor hardcourts at Palais des Sports.
Tsonga and del Potro both recorded career win number 200 on Friday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Del Potro, who was last week's Rotterdam runner-up to the great Roger Federer, will appear in his 15th career ATP World Tour final (9-5 mark, 0-3 indoors).
The 2009 Marseille titlist Tsonga and del Potro met for the fifth time, with the towering Argentine improving to 4-1 in their lifetime series.
Llodra upset third-seeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 7-6 (12-10) to reach his third final here in four years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The left-handed Llodra titled here in 2010 and was the Marseille runner-up in 2009. He will make his 10th career appearance in a title match (5-4 mark, 2-2 indoors).
Del Potro and Llodra have met twice before, with the Argentine taking both matchups.
The newest Marseille champ will collect $120,000.