Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Jarkko Nieminen – 2nd Round Preview: Erste Bank Open 2011
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French world No.9, made it to the 2nd round of the Este Bank Open 2011 as the top seed got a bye in the first round. Making his way from the other side was Jarkko Nieminen, Finn world No.62, beating
Robin Haase in straight sets in the opening round.
As the match is cited on hard courts (indoor) at Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, the two would certainly get the most of each other this time again. Previously, the two have met five times; however, this is their first meet of the year.
The former world No.13 Finn currently leads the head-to-head with 3 wins to 2.
With their first meeting in Australia, Finn had a comfortable victory over the Frenchman, also he was then seeded No.3 for the event. However, Tsonga did avenge his loss after a whole year at Brisbane to level up the head-to-head
to 1-1.
With their next three meetings in Sydney, New York and Tokyo, Nieminen won two of those but was not seeded in any of the events. Anyhow, this is not the same case now. As the veteran is losing his form as he grows old, Tsonga is
gaining up, currently world No.9, and has made history by defeating the Swiss Maestro in two straight meetings.
Improved considerably with his serve, ground strokes and his ability to play lunging dive volleys certainly put Tsonga in a stronger position against the Finn. Often Utilizing serve-n-volley tactic, the Frenchman has impressed
not only his fans but also the top players against he had victories.
Wimbledon 2011 was an epic display of the Frenchman’s abilities, ousting Federer and almost defeated the world No.1, Novak Djokovic in the semi-final. Nevertheless, negating the fact that the Frenchman has lost two places this
week is sure a lope hole to predict his defeat.
Nieminen, on the contrary, has been quite consistent against the lower ranked players. Losing three out of his last ten matches and giving a scare to the Gael Monfils at Stockholm earlier this week, world No.62 did impress most
of the analysts.
Considering the fact that he has been dominating the rivalry and currently in best of his form, Nieminen might as well get away with a win in the 2nd round against the Frenchman. Tsonga is strong at serving and net-play,
however, is less agile than the Finn.
Nevertheless, Tsonga has the prediction of a win considering his success at the Metz Cup earlier this year, an indoor hard court tournament, combined with his current performance and ranking. Nieminen, except Robin Haase and some
exceptions, has lost to the top 10 players.
Adding all this, the Frenchman takes the predictive win in the 2nd round match between the two that is scheduled for Thursday, 27th of October.
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