Jo-Wilfried Tsonga powers his way through Mardy Fish in Group B – ATP World Tour Finals 2011
Sixth seed Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, finally broke into the winners circle by taking down the eighth ranked American, Mardy Fish, in his second Round Robin match of Group B in the Barclays ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
World Tour Finals on Tuesday night.
The 26-year-old French took one hour and thirty minutes to conclude the competition in straight sets, 7-6(4), 6-1, keeping his hopes alive for making it to the semi-finals of the mega event. Tsonga was defeated by the fourth seed
Roger Federer in the opening Round Robin clash on Sunday evening but turned the tables on the American opponent in a convincing fashion to reach 1-1 in Group B.
Tsonga’s dominating performance improved his record to 53-23 in the running season, as he registered his second straight win against Fish in singles encounters. The eighth seed American was also outplayed by Tsonga in an enthralling
five-setter in the round of 16 at the US Open earlier this season but posed limited resistance to the French this time round to suffer 0-2 in head-to-head combats against him.
Tsonga had to manoeuvre his way through the opening set, eventually winning it in the tie breaker round but the second set was an all-French show. The sixth seed dominated every minute of the game in the second set, nailing three
breaks of serve to rocket away to victory in style.
“It's really good to win for the first time here,” said Tsonga in his post match reviews. “Today I started better, even if he broke me back in the first. But I played well today. I have felt really good on the court. When I'm very
aggressive and I put lot of pressure on my opponent, I'm able to play with everybody.”
The Frenchman belted seven aces and secured 17 out of 21 first serve points in the game to come out as the winner. Fish had a decent start in the opening set but tend to lose his steam in the later parts of the contest to finish
on the losing side. His error-ridden game play in the second set led him down in the end, letting Tsonga an opportunity to register victory comprehensively.
Tsonga will take on the world number two, Rafael Nadal, in his last Round Robin matchup on Thursday night and the winner of the two will earn a berth in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals.
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