Top-seeds Tsonga, Del Potro into semis in Vienna

VIENNA (AP) -Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame an error-prone start to beat Xavier Malisse 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Friday and reach his eighth semifinal of the season at the Erste Bank Open. Tsonga will play qualifier Daniel Brands of Germany, while No. 2 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina and No. 6 Kevin Anderson of South Africa will meet in the other semifinal. The ninth-ranked Tsonga, who is chasing a place at next month's ATP finals, was broken in the opening game and produced a string of unusual mistakes before the Frenchman finally found his rhythm toward the end of the second set. "I lost concentration but tried to stay calm," Tsonga said. "I tried my best and did what was most important - fighting and winning." Tsonga earned his first break points early in the third set and immediately used one for his only break of the Belgian's serve in the match. Earlier Friday, Anderson defeated two-time defending champion Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-3, 6-3. Anderson, who is ranked 32nd, served 11 aces and broke the third-seeded Melzer three times. "I have to admit that the better player won today," said Melzer, who did not get a break point. "I had no idea where he was going to serve. We had maybe five rallies in the whole match so I could not find any rhythm." Anderson, who won his maiden title in his native Johannesburg in February, will play his third semifinal of the season. The 15th-ranked Del Potro beat Tommy Haas of Germany 6-2, 6-4 to reach his first semifinal since winning his ninth career title in Estoril, Portugal, in April. "My form is slowly coming back, it's getting better every day," said Del Potro, who conceded just seven points on serve in the entire match. "I am serving better now than in 2009 but I am still working on my game." Del Potro said that beating the experienced Haas, who won the event in 2001, was "important for my confidence ... The Davis Cup (final against Spain) is on my mind every day but the important thing now is this tournament and the next match." Brands beat Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first semifinal of the season. The German double-faulted on match point and then was broken while leading 5-2 but closed out the match in his next service game.