Rafael Nadal edged 2008 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 to reach the semifinal at the Paris Rolex Masters for the first time since 2013. Nadal could reach the year-end number 1 spot if he wins the semifinals against Canadian Next Gen player Denis Shapovalov and Novak Djokovic loses to Grigor Dimitrov in the other semifinal.
Nadal has now won 14 consecutive matches and has qualified for the semifinal in Paris Bercy for the fourth time in his seventh appearance at this tournament.
The opening set went on serve with no break points and was decided by the tie-break. Tsonga dropped just one first-serve point in the first set. Nadal earned three mini-breaks and dropped two points on his serve to win the tie-break 7-4.
Nadal never looked back and broke serve in the second game of the second set. Tsonga went up 15-30 on return in the fifth game, but Nadal held his serve at deuce to build up a 4-1 lead. Nadal broke for the second time at 30 in the sixth game and served out the match 6-1 at love.
Nadal will face Denis Shapovalov for the third time in their career. They are tied 1-1 in their three head-to-head matches. Shapovalov beat Nadal at the Rogers Cup en route to reaching his first Masters 1000 semifinal. Nadal avenged this defeat by beating Shapovalov in Rome in 2018.
