Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stomps over Philipp Kohlschreiber in round three – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
French number one, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, edged past the 32nd seed, Philipp Kohlschreiber, in straight sets at the Sony Ericsson Open 2012 on Sunday. He penned down a 6-4, 7-6(2) success against the world number 35 to advance into the fourth round
at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour event held in Florida, United States.
The world number six fended off later resistance to outclass Kohlschreiber in their fifth meeting. He earned the glory in this one hour and 42-minute venture and extended lead in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 4-1 against the German.
Tsonga made a shaky entry at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park and gifted away his serve in the third game. However, the French snatched his break back in the very next game and then blocked four breakpoints he faced to keep his remaining serves. Tsonga
cashed in his second break opportunity in the last game and clinched the opener with a 6-4 score line.
The German raised the level of his game in the following set and smoothly swiped in entire serves without facing any breakpoint.
Tsonga, who is seeded sixth in the tournament, on the other hand maintained consistency in his game and also plucked his entire serves without facing any real challenge.
The set went into the tie-breaker where the French jumped to a 3-0 lead before sealing the set with a 7-6(2) win.
Overall, the highly enthusiastic French fired 12 aces and regardless of producing a poor first serve share of 42 per cent, he clicked 27 out of 33 points on it.
Next up for Tsonga is the 19th seed, Florian Mayer of Germany, who stunned the runner-up of the BNP Paribas Open, John Isner to set-up this clash.
The second seed, Rafael Nadal, will accompany the French in the following round. The Spaniard capitalised on four out of seven break chances and dusted away both breakpoints he came across to formulate a 6-2, 6-2 success. He also manifested a better first
serve share of 70 per cent as opposed to the Czech’s 62 per cent and impressively marked 28 out of 38 points on it.
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