Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Grigor Dimitrov – Opening Round Preview: China Open 2011
France’s number one, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, will take off his China Open campaign against the world number 70, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, in the opening round clash on Tuesday afternoon.
Rated at number seven in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Rankings, the 26-year-old Frenchman is the top seed in the tournament and hot favourite for winning the title as well. Tsonga will feature his opening
match on the outdoor hard courts of the National Tennis Stadium of the Olympic Green Tennis Center in Beijing, People's Republic of China, to battle for a place in the second round.
Tsonga has been in sublime form throughout the current ATP season and is among the strongest contenders to clinch one of the final four vacant berths in the ATP World Tour Finals. The seventh ranked French is up for another magnificent
performance in Beijing to strengthen his chances to roll among the top performers of the year in the Tour Finals.
The Frenchman has already won 41 singles encounters in the running ATP season, with 18 defeats to his name. He clinched his first title of the year at the Moselle Open, in Metz, France, a fortnight ago, when he outplayed the former
world number three, Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, in the final. Tsonga made it to the finals of three ATP tournaments this year and eventually succeeded to bag sixth championship title of his career in his last attempt on his home ground.
Unseeded in the tournament, 20-year-old Dimitrov is among the rising stars of the year from Bulgaria. He has been in a decent form this season and is running a 15-22 winning record for the year. The Bulgarian is yet to bag an ATP
World Tour title but his talent and dedicated game play is praised by many. Dimitrov came to Beijing fresh off his third Tour-level quarter-final in the Thailand Open, in Bangkok, where he suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the world number four, Andy
Murray.
The promising Bulgarian has already suffered two defeats at the hands of Tsonga in the running ATP season and trails a 0-2 all-time record against the French. The two men first met in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where Tsonga registered
a crushing straight sets victory, 6-4, 6-4, in the round of 32. Dimitrov met the belligerent French again in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships posed some resistance this time round, before he eventually lost the four-setter 7-6(4), 4-6, 4-6,
6-7(8).
Being the top seed in the tournament and running a sublime form, Tsonga is clearly the hot favourite for winning the clash against Dimitrov but the Bulgarian won’t let it go that easy. Dimitrov won the opening set of his last encounter
against Tsonga and gave him a tough time before succumbing in the fourth set tie breaker. The winner of the match will take on either of the two Chinese contestants, Ze Zang and Zhe Li, in the second round to battle for a place in the quarter-final of the
China Open.
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