Jo-Wilfried Tsonga downs Gael Monfils to win the season-opening championship title – Qatar Open 2012
Current world number six, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, finally cashed in a title opportunity in Doha after he defeated the 16th ranked fellow compatriot, Gael Monfils, in the final of the ExxonMobil Qatar Open on Saturday.
The third seed Tsonga took one hour and fifty seven minutes to wrap up victory in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, claiming the 2012 ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season-opening event in Doha, Qatar.
The exciting battle between the two Frenchman was dominated by Tsonga for most of the time. Fiery ground strokes and pin-point power hitting was seen from the tall French throughout the contest. Monfils didn’t have much in his
arsenal to take on the fury of the world umber six and he kept on crumbling as the game progressed.
Monfils showed significant resilience in the opening set and gave his opponent some rough ride before he completely lost his steam in the later parts of the match. Tsonga kept with his winning impetus in the second set as well
and swiped away his compatriot to lift his first championship trophy of the new ATP season.
“At the beginning of the match, it was a bit difficult because he broke me very early. It was tough. But in my head, everything was right," said Tsonga."I said, 'Okay, I'm one break down, but I will continue to play my game. I
will make him run a lot.' So I hit a lot of shots to make him run. I think it was the good solution because then, after that, he was maybe a bit tired. After that, I was better than him. That's why I maybe won today.”
Tsonga avenged the defeat he faced at the hands of Monfils in the 2010 at Montpellier, France and has stretched his lead to 3-1 in the head-to-head count against the 16th ranked opponent. 26-year-old Tsonga delivered
just 53 per cent of his first serve on target but secured 24 out of 32 first serve points in the contest en route to victory. He cashed all the three break opportunities he had in the matchup, with Monfils registering merely one break point conversion to finish
on the losing side in the end.
Monfils’ only break point came in the opening game of the match, hinting a stunning performance from the fourth seed but he totally lost control of his game in the proceedings. His sloppy game play was not good enough to contain
the hard-hitting Tsonga, who cruised away to victory in straight sets with conviction.
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