Ivan Dodig stuns Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round – AEGON Championships 2012
World number 69, Ivan Dodig of Croatia, sent another top player out of the tournament, as he upset the second seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in three sets 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(5) in the round of 16 at the AEGON Championships in London on
Thursday. The Croatian took two hours and 23 minutes to post win over his French opponent.
Dodig and Tsonga served superbly in the first set, as they did not lose their serve till the end, squaring off the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. The Croatian made a brilliant start, as he captured first four points
to attain a 4-0 advantage. He made the most of his lead, closing it 7-6(3).
The first half of the second set went exactly in the same manner as the opener, as Dodig and Tsonga held their serve in the first six games to level the score at 3-3. However, Tsonga struck in the seventh and ninth, snatching three
games in a row and winning it 6-3.
The proceedings in the final set were not different from the opener till its end, as none of the two players allowed each other to claim a break of serve, taking the score to 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. Unlike the first set,
Dodig and Tsonga went neck to neck till 5-5. However, it was the Croatian who drew the last blood, as he clinched two straight points to triumph 7-6(5).
Dodig banged in a total of five aces but also committed three double faults in the match. On the other hand, Tsonga had far better statistics, as he bombarded 11 aces on the Croatian and made only one double fault in the entire
contest.
The Frenchman also injured one of his right hand’s fingers during the loss, when he fell to the ground in the sixth game of the decider.
Tsonga said, “I think it’s serious. I will have a scan, but it sounds very bad. I felt like I broke something or I strained it when I fell. It’s only a finger but it’s tough because I have to play with my hand. At the moment I
don’t know what is it, but I will stay positive and I will see.”
He updated on twitter, "I will go home tomorrow (Friday) for a scan. I'm crossing my fingers that it is not serious and that I can play Wimbledon."
Dodig is slated to face USA’s Sam Querrey, ranked 77th in the world, in the quarter-finals.
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