Jo-Wilfried Tsonga outguns Andreas Seppi to claim title – Moselle Open 2012
Top seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, unleashed his full force to thrash the fifth seeded Italian, Andreas Seppi, in the Moselle Open final in Metz, France on Sunday.
Tsonga never allowed Seppi to gain momentum, as he controlled the proceedings from start to the end, beating the Italian in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 in just 50 minutes.
This victory was more special for Tsonga, as he was defending his title. The Frenchman defeated the former world number three, Ivan Ljubicic, in last year’s final here.
Tsonga has taken his this year’s points total to 2,905, bringing him close to qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals. This was the world number seven’s ninth career tour level title and second of the season. The French star grabbed
his first crown of the season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open by beating his compatriot, Gael Monfils.
Talking about the latest match, Tsonga and Seppi started it by holding their opening serves to equalise the score at 1-1. The French number one clinched breakthroughs in the fourth and sixth, making the most of them to close the
opener 6-1.
Tsonga began in the second set exactly from where he had stopped in the first, capturing opening four games to build a 4-0 advantage. The Italian held his serve in the fifth to claim his first game after losing nine on the trot,
reducing the deficit to 1-4. Being unable to bounce back, Seppi succeeded in winning only one more and went down 2-6.
The Frenchman was quite happy with his performance in the entire week. Talking to the reporters in the post match press conference, the right-hander said, "I had a complete match with no gaps, as opposed to yesterday. Of course,
it's a lot easier when I can make a difference in two or three shots. If I had to define this week, I would simply say it was a perfect one."
Tsonga was also satisfied from the fact that he managed to defend his title for the first time in his career. The 27-year-old added, "This is the first time I have been able to defend a title. So it's even more special that it's
here at the Moselle Open, where I am the ambassador."
Seppi was disappointed but he did not forget to congratulate his rival. The Italian stated, "I want to congratulate Jo because he played too well today. His serve was impressive and there's very little I could do.”
Ranked 25th in the world, Seppi was looking to win third tour level title of his career.
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