Gael Monfils moved one step closer to keeping French dominance of the European Open alive on Saturday, beating Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-4 to reach the championship match in Antwerp.
Looking to follow in the footsteps of French champions Richard Gasquet (2016) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2017), Monfils landed 10 aces and converted three of five break points en route to his second final of the season. The Frenchman, who captured his seventh tour-level trophy at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in January, is also bidding to lift multiple tour-level titles in a single season for the first time.
This year's Rio Open presented by Claro winner was aiming to extend his record of reaching each championship match at the Antwerp-based event. In his only previous semi-final appearance in 2018, the World No. 17 triumphed in straight sets before beating Fernando Verdasco to win the biggest title of his career in Rio de Janeiro.
"I am relieved to have been able to win this match in two sets," said Monfils. "Luckily I could count on my strong first service. I am hoping to see an all-French final tomorrow, but we'll see later tonight how that turns out."
Monfils will meet top seed Kyle Edmund or 2016 winner Richard Gasquet for the trophy on Sunday. The World No. 38 leads Edmund 1-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and also owns a 10-7 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against countryman Gasquet.
