Alexandr Dolgopolov rallies past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to advance at Sony Ericsson Open
21st seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov upset 15th seeded French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2)6-7, 6-4, 7-5 in a nail biter match to advance to the round of 16 at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami.
Ranked 23 in the world, Dolgopolov overpowered the French in a five-set thriller at Grand Slam in Australia earlier this season. He displayed his awe-inspiring skills in this match as well and stunned Tsonga, world number 16, after
bouncing back at the French from a set down to advance in this event.
The 25-year-old Tsonga started the match with full passion and was in his top form in the opening set. Tsonga is in great form this season as he made a semi-final berth at Doha before losing to 2nd seeded Swiss Roger
Federer, he then reached final at Rotterdam where he lost to the top seeded Swede Robin Soderling. The French also made a quarter-final berth at Marseille.
Against Dolgopolov, Tsonga smacked three aces and had a much better first serve share of 62 percent. He also earned a spectacular 82 percent win on it and broke Dolgopolov’s serve once. However, he lost his serve and took the set
to tiebreaker where he managed to win the set with a 7-6(2) score line after prevailing in it.
The 22-year-old Dolgopolov is clearly in better form. He made a quarter-final berth at Sydney and Australian Open and reached the final at Costa do Sauipe before losing to top seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. He also made it to
the semi-finals at Acapulco where he lost to the top seeded Spaniard David Ferrer.
The Ukrainian re-focused his strategy in the second set as he played Tsonga. He spilled no double faults and registered an acceptable 71 percent win on his slightly lower first serve share. Dolgopolov lost his serve once but he
quickly counterattacked by converting two out of three breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to clinch the set with a 6-4 win.
With one set each the match was forced into a decider. Entering the decider, Dolgopolov carried his winning ways and held his opening serve. He continued to hold his serves and after he took the lead by holding his serve at 6-5,
the Ukrainian broke at the 12th game to win the final set with a 7-5 win. Dolgopolov found two match points and converted one to his advantage after his rival dropped a feeble shot into the net. Although, the Ukrainian had a lower first serve share
and clobbered three double faults, he saved all five breakpoints and finally clinched a set win by converting one to his advantage.
He will next face the top seeded Spanish Rafael Nadal who reached this spot after dumping his countryman Feliciano Lopez in straight sets.
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