Jo-Wilfried Tsonga outmuscles Thomaz Bellucci to reach round two – London Olympics 2012
French number one, Jo-Wilfried Tonga, took down the Brazilian contender, Thomaz Bellucci, in a three-set mouth-watering match at the London Olympics 2012 on Sunday. He nudged up a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 victory against the left-handed Brazilian to power into the
second round at Games of the x*x Olympiad taking place in London, United Kingdom.
The fifth seeded French showed superb tennis to outsmart Bellucci in his first Olympics appearance. After pulling out the victory in just under two hours, Tsonga not only took lead in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series
by 1-0 against the world number 42 but also advanced into the second round.
The underdog made a strong entry at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. He comfortably swiped his entire serves with conviction and regardless of failing to get the coveted break, Bellucci took the set to a tie-breaker. He dominated in it and carved
out the opener with a 7-6(5) success.
Ranked sixth in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Tsonga sought his winning track in the follow-up set. He smoothly held his entire serves and got the breakthrough in the fifth game, eventually clinching the equaliser with a 6-4 score line.
Tsonga maintained his intensity in the final set and easily held his entire serves. He cashed in a break opportunity in the seventh game and sealed the decider with a 6-4 win.
Summing up the seed’s performance in this battle, Tsonga brushed off all three breakpoints he faced to keep his entire serves. He also fired 36 winners and ruled throughout the match to claim the victory.
Next in line for the French seed is the winner of the match between Japan’s Tatsuma Ito and Canada’s Milos Raonic.
The British top, Andy Murray, also earned the glory later that day. He eased past the Swiss number two, Stanislas Wawrinka, in straight sets to charge into the round of 32. Murray broke the Swiss serve in the eighth game to click the opener with a 6-3 win.
He earned the critical break in the opening game of the following set and then capitalised on another break chance in the last game, eventually bagging the second set with a 6-3 success.
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