Jo-Wilfried Tsonga dismisses Tomas Berdych to capture the title – Open 13
Local top ranked contender, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, made an epic comeback from a set down to outclass the top seed, Tomas Berdych, in a three-set thriller at the Open 13, an ATP World Tour 250 series event taking place in Marseille, France. He nudged up a 3-6,
7-6(6), 6-4 victory against the Czech number one to grab his 10th ATP crown on Sunday.
Seeded third in this event, Tsonga displayed superb skills to outclass the Czech in their sixth encounter. After stealing the spotlight, the French lowered trail in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 2-4 against Berdych and bagged the prize money.
The local star stated in a post match press conference:
“This is a great victory. I stayed in the match even when it was very difficult and waited for my chance. I survived and took my chance when it came. I’m very happy. This shows me that I’m on the right way. The draw was very strong here. He played better
than me during the first half of the match, but then I played better than him. He served very well and I was maybe too close to the baseline in the beginning.”
The world number six, Berdych comfortably entered the French courts and smoothly held his entire serves. He got the breakthrough in the sixth game and subsequently clinched the opener with a 6-3 score line.
Tsonga re-focused his strategy in the proceeding set. He ruled his entire serves but failed to cash in any break opportunity. As a result, the set went to a tie-breaker where the Frenchman made a comeback from trailing at 5-6 to eventually pulling out the
equaliser with a 7-6(6) score line.
The 27-year-old French kept momentum rolling in the deciding set. He got the coveted break in the third game and leaped to a 3-1 lead. Tsonga then kept his remaining serves with poise and ultimately clicked the decider with a 6-4 win.
All in all, the eighth ranked Frenchman clobbered a better first serve share of 71 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 68 per cent and superbly smashed 17 aces.
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