Jo-Wilfried Tsonga undoes Daniel Brands in semi-final match – Erste Bank Open 2011
Top seeded Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga moved into the final match of the 2011 Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria on Saturday, 29th October after doing away with German Daniel Brands in straight, though perhaps not
so simple, sets. Taking eight three minutes, Tsonga withstood late resistance from the German to secure a 6-2, 7-6(4) win and a berth in the final of the event.
Playing once before in the first round of the French Open in 2010, Tsonga cruised to a 2-0 lead after doing away with the German once more in their second career meeting.
A world number 182 pitted against a top ten player – the outcome of the match was evident. Brands opened serve and was broken in the very first game. The Frenchman held his serve and once more broke the German to go 3-0 in the
lead. From there on the two players continued to win on their serves. For Brands to make any impact in the set, the German had to break back though he setup no opportunity let alone capitalise on it. Standing at 5-2, Tsonga served out the set to clinch a 6-2
victory in the first set.
The highlights of the first set were the Frenchman’s four aces, zero double faults and consistent 80 percent first and second serve wins. Tsonga grabbed 29 of 46 points to go one up in the set score.
An easy breezy win in the first set predicted similar result in the second set. However, Brands bounced back to put up some resistance for the Frenchman. Although Tsonga set up five breakpoint opportunities, he was unable to follow
through on them due to some excellent defence and return from the German. The neck-to-neck run eventually forced the set into a tiebreaker.
The toe-to-toe battle ensued well into the tiebreaker as the pair kept the score tied for the first eight points. However, capitalising on a mini-break Tsonga reeled off three straight points to clinch a 7-4 win, sealing his straight
sets victory.
Tsonga closed out the match with nine more aces, a single double fault and an improved 88 percent first serve win.
The top seed now moves into the final match to play the second seeded Argentine giant, Juan Martin Del Potro. The Argentine survived a mid match lapse as he took three sets to do away with South African Kevin Anderson in the semi-final
match recording a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win.
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