Jo-Wilfried Tsonga downs Marcos Baghdatis in round one – Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2012
French number one, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, outclassed the Cypriot tennis ace, Marcos Baghdatis, in straight sets at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2012 on Tuesday. He nudged up a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over the world number 46 to advance into the second
round at this ATP World Tour 500 series event taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The fourth seed showed tremendous skills and agility to oust Baghdatis in an hour and 36-minutes marathon. The players previously battled each other at the Rome Masters 1000 event and after earning this success, Tsonga improved to a 2-0 FedEx ATP Head 2
Head record against the Cypriot.
"It was a tough challenge, but I like it," said the high spirited French after the match. "I play tennis for challenge. I found [the court] really, really quick. The ball shoots through." Tsonga, who is playing without any coach, was further quoted, "can
count on Guy Forget, my captain in Davis Cup, [for] a lot of advice. Last year, I had some advice from Andre Agassi."
Ranked 5th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Tsonga entered the Aviation Club Tennis Centre and held his serve in the opening game. The French maintained consistency in his game and bagged remaining serves until he suffered
the first blow in the ninth game. However, Tsonga stayed focused and quickly recovered in the very next game, eventually dragging the set to a tie-breaker. He ruled in it and subsequently clinched the opener with a 7-6(2) score line.
The Swiss resident kept momentum rolling into the following set and held his opening serve in the second game to level the scores at 1-1. Tsonga held his nerves and bagged remaining serves after dusting away the only breakpoint he encountered. The French
got the breakthrough in the fifth game and bagged the set with a 6-4 win.
Summing up the higher ranked performance in this epic duel, Tsonga fired nine ferocious aces and manipulated a better first serve share of 71 percent as opposed to the Cypriot’s 55 percent. He also brilliantly clicked 38 out of 52 points on it and cashed
in both break chances to prevail.
Next challenge for the French star is the Czech contender, Lukas Rosol, who trashed Tsonga’s compatriot, Adrian Mannarino, in straight sets to set-up this clash. Rosol was never threatened with any breakpoint and converted four out of nine break opportunities
to his advantage to pocket the match.
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