2011 Open 13: Mikhail Youzhny vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – Preview
Continuing the singles action in the evening session of the 2011 Open 13 in Marseille on Friday, local Jo-Wilfried Tsonga takes on top Russian, Mikhail Youzhny.
Ranked 16th in the world, Tsonga sports an impressive 8-3 win loss mark for the season so far. Starting the year at the 2011 Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha as
the third seed, Tsonga moved past Ruben Hidalgo, Sergei Bubka and Guillermo Garcia to secure a spot for himself in the final four. However, losing to eventual champion Roger Federer, Tsonga exited the event.
Seeded thirteenth in the opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open, Tsonga moved past Philipp Petzschner and Andreas Seppi, before being ousted from the event in the third
round by Alexandr Dolgopolov. A 2010 semi-finalist at the Australian Open, Tsonga suffered a drop in the rankings after the 2011 Australian Open as he failed to defend his points
Continuing on the tour last week, Tsonga appeared as the sixth seed at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. Making it to the quarterfinals, Tsonga received a walkover when
his opponent Tomas Berdych pulled out of the match due to flu. Defeating Ivan Ljubicic in the semi-finals, Tsonga made his way into the final. Meeting Robin Soderling, Tsonga led the set score 1-0 at one though he failed to maintain his form and lost a chance
at the title.
Playing in his fourth straight year here, Tsonga debuted at Marseille in 2008. However, following a loss to Mario Ancic, he was ousted in the first round. Returning in 2009,
Tsonga made it all the way to the final where he defeated compatriot Michael Llodra to clinch a title here. Plagued by injuries in 2010, Tsonga was unable to defend his title as he lost to countryman Julien Benneteau in the semi-final round.
Looking to recapture his title this week, Tsonga started his campaign playing local wildcard entrant, Benoit Paire. Losing only three games, Tsonga moved ahead to play Ukrainian
Sergiy Stakhovsky. Surviving an early scare, Stakhovsky bounced back from being one set down to defeat the Ukrainian and setup a quarterfinal clash with Youzhny.
Standing at a level 2-2 head to head score, Tsonga prepares to take on the Russian for the fifth time on the courts, though their hard court score rests at 2-1 in Tsonga’s
favour. The pair had last met at the 2010 Valencia Open with Youzhny emerging as the victor.
Playing in only his second tour level event for the season, Youzhny started his ATP Tour playing at the Rotterdam event last week though he failed to make it past the quarterfinal
round as he lost to eventual champion, Robin Soderling.
Debuted in 2006 and absent in 2010, Youzhny is playing in fifth year here. Except for 2006 when he was ousted in the second round, the Russian has enjoyed three straight
quarterfinal runs here though he has failed to move past them. Making it into his fourth straight quarterfinal here this week, Youzhny plans to bring his game and win his first title on French soil.
Prediction:
With both players closely matched it is difficult to choose a favourite amongst them. However, looking at all the factors, Tsonga’s home crowd advantage may tip the odds slightly in his favour. In any case the match will not be over in two sets.
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