Jo-Wilfried Tsonga halts Mardy Fish in the fourth round – US Open 2011
Sheer dismay for the local crowd, as the home favourite, Mardy Fish, crashed out of the fourth round of the US Open at the hands of the 11th ranked Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, on Monday afternoon.
In the contest being played on the hard court of Arthur Ashe Stadium of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States, the 11th seeded French displayed
his brilliant tennis skills to outplay the world number eight in an enthralling five-setter.
Tsonga settled the final scores at 6-4, 6-7(5), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, taking three hours and forty five minutes of exhausting play to book a berth in the quarter-final round of the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. The contest appeared
evenly poised throughout, with a number of momentum swings being observed. Tsonga was trailing 1-2 in the match when he made his tremendous comeback in the contest to reel off the next two sets to produce a surprise result in the fourth round of the US Open.
“Today it was very difficult because of Mardy, of course, because of the wind and the conditions,” said Tsonga. “I did a great job today. I feel good physically, and that makes you feel good in your head because you know if you
are two-sets-to-one down that you can win in five sets. To beat Mardy here is special because it's the first time I've reached the quarter-finals. It's as good as beating Federer or Nadal because he's at home and he wants to do great and play his best tennis
here”
Fish had three break opportunities in the opener but the resilient Frenchman saved all three of them and nailed a crucial break point conversion in the ninth game to bag the first set at 6-4. The eighth ranked American backfired
at Tsonga immediately, pocketing the following two sets to get into a substantial lead of 2-1 in the contest.
Tsonga shifted his gears in the fourth set and a break point conversion in the ninth game proved vital in closing out the set at 6-4, levelling the matchup at two-all. The French then carried on with his winning impetus in the
final set and rocketed to a 5-1 lead to leave Fish hopeless in the contest. Tsonga finished off the matchup in style, disposing off the home favourite Fish from the Grand Slam tournament and moving into the quarter-final draws.
Tsonga will take on the winner of the match between the world number three, Roger Federer of Switzerland and Juan Monaco of Argentina, in his next encounter.
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