Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. John Isner – Semi-final preview: BNP Paribas Masters 2011
Race to the final of the last ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters Series tournament is on and the world number eight, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, will take on the 25th ranked American competitor, John
Isner in the semi-final clash.
The big match will be played on the indoor hard courts of the Palias Omnisports in Paris, France, on Saturday night, with the winner of the match getting a shot at the World Tour 1000 title.
A nail-biting thriller is expected on the weekend, as two of the best servers in the game came face-to-face on the hard courts of Paris. Isner and Tsonga came to Paris as the top aces leaders on the ATP World Tour, with Isner at
751 and Tsonga at 742 aces. It will be a h**l of a battle when flurry of cracking aces will be launched from both competitors to fight for a berth in the final of the Paris Masters.
The fifth seed home favourite has only won one ATP Masters 1000 title in his career and it came at this venue in 2008. Tsonga will be eyeing to replicate the similar feat this time round again. He has already bagged two indoor
championship titles in Metz and Vienna this season and his consistent performance with the racquet have booked him a berth in the prestigious season ending grand finale, the ATP World Tour Finals, in London later this month.
Tsonga is currently 52-21 this year and registered comprehensive victories over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Andreas Seppi in the early rounds of the Paris Masters to meet the world number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, in the quarter-final.
The top seed pulled out of the quarter-final clash for his agonising shoulder injury, giving a walkover to Tsonga into the semi-finals of the tournament.
On the other hand, Isner took off his Paris Masters campaign by dumping the world number 16, Stanislas Wawrinka, in the opening round and then carried on with his run to outplay other quality players like Igor Kunitsyn and Feliciano
Lopez in the later rounds to reach the final eight. The unseeded American made a huge upset in the quarter-finals when he defeated the world number five, David Ferrer of Spain, in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to book a date with Tsonga in the semis.
Isner has been victorious in 35 out of 55 matches he has played so far this season and has bagged two ATP championship titles as well. The American is expected to raise his rankings to number 14 if he reaches the final of the tournament
and to number nine if he wins the title, giving him an alternate spot in the ATP World Tour Finals.
The only prior meeting between these two took place in Washington two years back, with Isner winning 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4), to lead 1-0 over the French. Tsonga has been the finalist at the Paris Masters for the past three years in
a row and will certainly desire to make that four on Saturday. The sixth seed is certainly favourite for a straight sets victory over the American but if Isner come up with something special to take down the world number eight, the contest will be a three-setter
for sure.
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