Jo-Wilfried Tsonga outsmarts Lleyton Hewitt in the opening battle – Wimbledon Championships 2012
Reigning world number six, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, posted a resounding start to the Wimbledon Championships campaign, defeating the former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, in the opening round clash on Tuesday. The fifth seeded Frenchman overcame his opponent in straight sets, settling the final score line at 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the round of 64 at the Grand Slam event in London, England.
It was a pretty one-sided contest, with Tsonga dominating for most of the time. The in-form French powerhouse exhibited one of the finest displays of grass-court tennis to dispose of the Aussie wildcard entrant in an assertive fashion. He was far better than Hewitt in every segment of the game and didn’t allow any opportunities to his veteran opponent to come top of him.
It was Tsonga’s third successive victory over Hewitt, giving him a 3-0 lead in the head-to-head series. He first defeated the Australian old horse at the Queen’s Club in 2007 and then on his home soil in Adelaide, Australia, in the following year. The French used his fiery serve as the primary weapon of destruction, nailing 21 thudding aces and amazingly clinching 50 out of 61 first serve points en route to victory. He launched frequent forays to the net, converting juicy volleys into cross-court winners at will. Tsonga won 23 out of 29 net points, whilst the Aussie veteran could barely win 14 out of his 24 raids to the middle.
"[Hewitt] played unbelievable matches here and is maybe able to play the same tennis, and this is difficult," said Tsonga. "But for me it's better to play somebody like this because I have to stay focused; I have to be focused at the beginning of the match. It makes me play a good tennis directly, and not lose one or two sets. Two weeks ago I played at the French Open good tennis, and for sure here I will play also a good tennis, because my game fits maybe better on grass than on clay."
Hewitt rarely beat the wide reach of Tsonga during the contest and scored merely 12 winners in the entire matchup, whereas the fifth seeded French bombarded 61 winners to completely demolish the Australian. The aging factor of Hewitt clearly played its part in the competition and he was often found struggling with his footwork. An overall dismal performance from the former world number one ended his Grand Slam campaign in the very first round of the tournament.
Tsonga will play against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain in the second round battle.
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