2011 Qatar ExxonMobil Open: Review – Roger Federer vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Chasing his third title at Doha, Swiss champion Roger Federer did away Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. The two superstars opened play at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex on Friday, playing their semi-final match at the 2011 Qatar ExxonMobil
Open.
Having played each other once every year since 2008, the pair entered the match sporting a 2-1 head to head score. Already ahead in the score, Federer was able to extend his lead over Tsonga after their match at Doha today. Their last meeting had come at
the semi-final of the 2010 Australian Open; where the Swiss had defeated the French in straight sets before moving on to win his fifth title at the event.
Enjoying a much more favourable season than Tsonga, a win at the Australian Open was the first of Federer’s five titles in 2010. He finished off the year enjoying title wins at Basel, Stockholm, Cincinnati Masters and the season finale event in London. He
started play in 2011 participating at the exhibition event, the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, in Abu Dhabi. He enjoyed a final run at the event though he failed to win the championship, courtesy Rafael Nadal.
Tsonga, on the other hand, had an injury plagued season in 2010. Failing to win any titles or put in any final appearances, he ended his season prematurely after injuring his knee during his title defence at the Montpellier. His injury forced him to pull
out of the Paris Masters and also the Davis Cup final. Like the Swiss, Tsonga also started his year at the exhibition event in Abu Dhabi though he failed to make it past the first round owing his defeat to top Swede Robin Soderling.
Playing at his sixth Doha event, second seed Federer opened his title run on Monday playing Thomas Schooler. He defeated the Dutch in straight sets to meet compatriot Marco Chiudinelli in the second round. After a hard fought battle between the two, Federer
was able to move into the quarterfinals where he faced and eventually defeated Viktor Troicki. Although, the Swiss has managed back to back title wins in 2005-06, his recent runs at the event had ended in semi-final exits.
Seeded fifth, Tsonga opened at the event playing Ruben Hidalgo. He defeated the Spaniard in straight sets to meet wildcard entrant Sergiy Bubka in the second round. Tsonga’s 6-2, 6-4 win over Bubka set up a quarterfinal clash with seventh seed Guillermo
Garcia-Lopez. After a head to head run between the two with both sets going into tiebreakers, Tsonga was finally able to clinch a 7-6(4), 7-6(9) win setting up a semi-final clash with the top Swiss.
Winning the toss, Federer opened serve and rushed to a 1-0 lead. Breaking Tsonga’s serve in the second game, Federer extended his lead to 3-0. Continuing to dominate the courts, Federer was able to enjoy a 4-2 lead before clinching off a 6-3 victory in the
first set.
Going in the second set, it seemed that the Frenchman was determined to fight back. Winning the first game and then continuing to win games on his service, Tsonga was able to keep the score tied at all times leading the set into a tiebreaker. Entering the
tiebreaker, Tsonga was able to continue his four points but that was as far as he could go. Failing to win a single point afterwards, Tsonga finally lost the tiebreaker 2-7.
Winning his match, Federer said, “I thought I started off the match really well. In the second set, it got a bit more competitive. I think he started to play better and better. Fortunately I was serving well, that kept me out of a bit of trouble. I was able
to play a bit better in the tie-break and in the end it was a great match for me, because Tsonga can play really, really well.”
Enjoying a straight set victory over the Frenchman, Federer moves into his first tour level final of the season. He goes on to face either the world number one Nadal or defending champion Nikolay Davydenko.
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