France has beaten Australia on the tennis court as well as the soccer field this weekend, with Matt Ebden and Bernard Tomic being denied an all-Australian final at the ATP event in the Netherlands.
On the same night France beat Australia 2-1 at the FIFA World Cup in Russia, Richard Gasquet and Jeremy Chardy set up an all-French final at the Libema Open in Rosmalen after both saw off Australian challengers in Saturday's semi-finals.
Second seeded Gasquet ended Tomic's recent resurgence by winning 6-4 6-7 (7/6) 6-2 while Chardy beat Ebden 6-4 7-5.
Tomic, who was playing his first ATP semi-final for two years, had to qualify for the grasscourt event in the Netherlands and threatened an upset in the first two closely contested sets.
But Gasquet, who lost to Tomic on the grass of Wimbledon in 2013, extended his career dominance to win for the eighth time in 10 meetings.
Ebden was yet to drop a set in his charge to the semis, having beaten defending champion Gilles Muller along the way.
For Tomic, it was a return to form after bombing out of the French Open to lucky loser Marco Trungelliti in the first round, having also won his place in the main draw after progressing through qualifying.
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