Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overwhelms Juan Monaco at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
World number 17 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France outplayed the 36th ranked Argentine, Juan Monaco in the opening round of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters at Monaco on Monday noon. The 12th seed Frenchman took two
hours and thirty one minutes of play to wrap up the three-set victory 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and move on to the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) 1000 Masters tournament.
The versatile Frenchman dropped the opener after sloppy start but regrouped later to reel off the next two sets to conclude his victory against Monaco. It is the third consecutive time that the Argentine has suffered a loss at
the hands of Tsonga, who is leading the all time head-to-head series by 3-0. Monaco was defeated by the Frenchman twice in 2009 at Roland Garros and the Australian Open.
25-year-old Tsonga exhibited his sheer determination and bounced back in the game after the early disadvantage. He remained focused and played calculated strokes to turn the pressure on his Argentine opponent and take the game
away from him.
“I showed a lot of determination, I had a good attitude and I was aggressive,” said the French after the match ended, “I chose some tactics at the beginning. I realized they were not working well, so
I managed to change my tactics and play more directly. I approached the net and tried to mix up my game.”
Monaco’s game in the opening set was very impressive as he pushed the tall Frenchman to his limits. He displayed his excellent clay-court tennis and aggressively met the hardest-hit ground strokes from
the powerful Tsonga, forcing him to commit errors. Monaco served with 72 per cent precision and took 14 of 23 first serve points on it, while conceding just on double fault in the first set.
Intense tennis was witnessed in the opening set, with Monaco clouting three serve breaks and Tsonga following him with two. The Argentine proved the better player to seal off the first set at 6-4 and
take the initial advantage in the match.
27-year-old Monaco gradually lost his steam in the next set, allowing his French opponent to make a breakthrough in the game. Tsonga started to get in his rhythm and stung two serve breaks to bag the
second set. The game became pretty much one-sided from there onwards and the French orchestrated most of the rallies in the third set. He dropped his serve twice to the Argentine but broke four times to wind up an emphatic victory at 6-2 and advance to the
second round at Monte-Carlo.
Next up for Tsonga is the unseeded Croat, Ivan Ljubicic, who defeated Jeremy Chardy of France in the opening round.
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