Jo-Wilfried Tsonga eases past Karol Beck into the round two – US Open 2012
Fifth seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, made a solid start at the last Grand Slam of the season, as he downed Slovakia’s Karol Beck in straight sets 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(2) in the first round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.
The Frenchman was troubled a bit by the hot weather in New York at the latter stages of the match but his strong serves and sharp pay at the net helped him to clinch victory after a close fifth set.
There was not much action in the opener except the fourth game, when Tsonga hit a couple of return winners to break Beck’s serve to move ahead 3-1. The 2008 Australian Open finalist gave no chance to his opponent to come back,
closing it 6-3.
Tsonga started to play aggressive shots from the beginning of the second set, which helped him to hit a blow to the Slovakian player in the first game, taking a 1-0 lead. The Frenchman made his second strike in the seventh to capture
it 6-1 and gain a two sets to love advantage.
Beck was in no mood to go down tamely, as he claimed a breakthrough in the third game of the third set and won his next serve to move ahead 2-0. However, Tsonga did not allow the Slovakian to serve out the set, pulling it back
in the 10th game to level the proceedings at 5-5. It went to a tie-breaker, where the Frenchman took complete control, dropping just two points to win 7-6(2).
Tsonga will be aiming to improve on his last year’s performance, when he lost to Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, in the quarter-finals.
The French player acknowledged, "I think I played good tennis the first two sets, and after that I lost a bit of concentration at the beginning of the third set. Then I came back and I did some effort to come back. It was not easy
today because the weather was hot. I'm happy to go through this round really quickly."
He added, "I play tennis to win big tournaments like this. I mean, since I was a kid I've dreamt about it. This is what gives me motivation. It's to win something like this. I never give up, and I will work until I cannot work
anymore."
After this win, Tsonga will meet another Slovakian contender, Martin Klizan, in the second round.
Tags: