Jo-Wilfried Tsonga halts Sergiy Stakhovsky to enter quarters – Winston-Salem Open 2012
Top seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, took down the Ukrainian qualifier, Sergiy Stakhovsky, in straight sets at the Winston-Salem Open 2012 on Wednesday. He juggled up a 7-6(1), 6-4 victory against the world number 96 to cruise into the final eight at this outdoor
hard court tournament taking place at the Wake Forest University in North Carolina, United States.
The French number one showed top notch performance to outclass Stakhovsky in their third encounter. After registering the success in one hour and 34 minutes, Tsonga improved to a 3-0 lifetime in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2
Head series against the Slovakia resident and powered into the quarter-finals at this outdoor hard court tournament.
"I feel okay because I feel have good legs, move well, [am] physically strong and I hit the ball well. Now I have to be a bit more focussed on important points," said the jubilant French in an on-court interview after winning the match.
Tsonga made a sloppy start at this ATP World Tour 250 series event. He suffered the first blow in the third game and went 1-2 down. However, the French quickly counterattacked in the very next game and levelled the scores. He held his remaining serves and
not only dragged the set to a tie-breaker but dominated in it to click the opener with a 7-6(1) success. He jumped to a 5-0 lead in it before bagging the opening set with self-assurance.
Ranked sixth in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Tsonga kept momentum floating in the follow-up set. He quickly pocketed his entire serves without facing any real challenge. The higher ranked contender cashed in one out of two break point
chances in the ninth game and eventually clinched the set with a 6-4 score line.
Tsonga will face off the sixth seed, Marcel Granollers from Spain. The Spaniard bounced back to triumph over the Latvian qualifier, Ernests Gulbis, in three sets to set up this clash.
The seventh seed, Sam Querrey, will accompany Tsonga in the last eight. He smashed 12 aces and spectacularly marked 26 out of 29 points on his first serve share to overpower Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.
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