In the fourth rubber, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga secured France's passage into the Davis Cup semifinal with a four set win over Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-5.
Lone breaks seals opening set for Vesely
The start of the set started nervily for both players. With the first four games flown by, there was nothing to separate the two players. The fifth game, however, would see the first break point. For the Czech Republic. Jiri Vesely managed to take Tsonga to deuce before gaining a break point, which he took following a lengthy rally.
In the upcoming game, the 23-year-old consolidated the break to go 2-4 up on the Frenchman. The closest the 30-year-old got to breaking the Czech was in the eighth game. Vesely saved two of the break points he faced in the game before going on to seal the set 4-6 on his second chance.
Tsonga levels
Both players opened their service games comfortably to get the second underway. On serve, both players looked relaxed and at ease. The closest one came to getting the breakthrough was in the tenth game. With Tsonga 5-4 up, he pushed the world number 50 to deuce before winning the point and having a set point to his name. However, Vesely dug in, saved the point and then held to level at 5-5.
With the match still level, the Czech sent the set to a tiebreaker following a hold to love.The world number ten ran away with the breaker winning 7-3 and the set 7-6(3). The Frenchman won 88 percent of points on first serve and 75 percent behind his second serve. The world number 50 hit two aces and three double-faults. Vesely, however, slightly struggled with his serve. The Czech won 70 percent of points behind his first serve, while on his second won only 60 percent.
Patient Tsonga wins set, goes two one up
With six games gone, just like the second set, there was no breakthrough. In the seventh game, it was Tsonga who upped his game and eventually broke Vesely for the first time in the match. The French number one hit a forehand crosscourt winner to break the Czech and go 4-3 up. The Frenchman consolidated to love and was 5-3 up. At this point, the Czech crowd had quietened and the French were making more of the noise in the stadium.
The 31-year-old served it out with a serve and volley to put the Franch within touching distance of the semifinals. The Frenchman served three aces and zero double-faults while Vesely only managed one double-fault with no aces. Tsonga was prolific on serve. On his first serve points, he won 86 percent and on his second he won 89 percent points. Meanwhile, Vesely struggled, on first serve points he won 71 percent while on his second only managed to win 36 percent throughout the set.
Tsonga puts the French in the semifinals
In the sixth game, Tsonga was forced to save three break points from the Czech before eventually going on to hold. In the following game, Vesely was had a number of break points against him. At 15-40, the 23-year-old sent the game to deuce before Tsonga won the point and grabbed a third break point. Once again, Vesely was made to work to save the point.
In the longest game of the set, the number two Czech player finally held to go 4-3 up. A couple of games later and Tsonga broke to end the Czech's involvement in the Davis Cup for 2016. The Frenchman had two chances to break from 15-40 up. Vesely managed to save one, but Tsonga rose to the occasion and broke with his second chance. He closed the match out to love and put the French into the semifinals.