Igor Sijsling stuns Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to enter round two – ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 2013
Local wild card entrant, Igor Sijsling, upset the third seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in a three-set nail-biter at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 2013 on Monday. He summed up a 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 victory against the French number one to power into the second round at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 series event taking place in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The Dutch star recorded his first victory against the Top tenner at his home soil after shocking Tsonga in their first encounter. After pocketing the match, Sijsling improved to a 1-0 lifetime in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head Series against Tsonga and is now eyeing for his first back to back win this season.
Sijsling assertively entered the Ahoy Rotterdam and swiftly bagged his entire serves with conviction. He failed to cash any break opportunity but cruised to a 5-2 lead in the tie-breaker, eventually pulling out the opener with a 7-6(3) score line.
The world number eight rebounded in the proceeding set. He grabbed his serves with poise and got the breakthrough in the ninth game, subsequently grabbing the equaliser with a 6-4 win.
In the final set, both players showed brilliant tennis skills. They levelled the scores until 4-4. After this the Dutch contender unleashed his skills and bagged the last two games, consequently clicking the decider with a 6-4 success.
The seed on the other hand smashed 14 aces. However, he failed to prevail in the last set and ultimately exited from this event with disappointment.
Tsonga praised the Dutch’s performance in a courtside interview after the match:
“He played and served well. He was good on the big points and took his chances. That's it. I didn't play too bad. The last game was not good, since I was broken for the first time in the match.”
Next in line for Sijsling is the Slovakian number one, Martin Klizan, who triumphed over the former world number 12, Paul-Henri Mathieu, in three sets to set up this battle. The Slovak lost his track in the second set but remained calm, eventually clinching the battle with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 score line.
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