2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeats Michael Llodra
World number 18, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga survived an early scare as he met compatriot Michael Llodra for their second round match at the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
Tsonga moved ahead in the event after doing away with Bulgarian qualifier Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets while Llodra had moved into the second round after doing away with Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
After meeting Llodra for the third time in his career, Tsonga was able to extend his head-to-head lead to 3-0 after bouncing back from being one set down against the former.
The 30-year-old Frenchman dominated the scoreboard with an impressive winning percentage of 71 per cent on service in the opening set. Llodra was able to clinch a 6-4 win for himself in the first set after successfully saving four
of four break points and converting one of three break opportunities to his advantage.
Llodra continued his form in the second set as he led the set score 1-0. However, the higher ranked Tsonga bounced back as he improved his first serve winning percentage to a notable 95 per cent. Tsonga lost only four of 24 points
on service to register a reversal of the score as he won the second set, pushing the match into the decider. The 25-year-old Tsonga maintained his form in the deciding set as he registered another 6-4 win to seal victory and ensure his survival in the event.
In a match that lasted almost two hours, Tsonga struck 16 aces and lost only 31 of 98 points on service to move ahead in the event. The world number 22 will next play either Tomas Berdych or Dmitry Tursunov.
In another French ‘civil war’ for the day, qualifier Benoit Paire met countryman Gilles Simon for their first round match at the event.
After surviving a mid-match lapse, Paire was able to do away with the higher ranked Simon. It took a little over ninety minutes for Paire to save 10 of 14 break points and successfully convert five of seven break opportunities
to ensure a three-set win over the world number 33 Frenchman. He struck five aces and lost only 44 of 100 points on service as he prevailed 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
Paire now moves ahead in the event to play against seventh seeded, Ivan Ljubicic in the second round on Thursday.
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