Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. John Isner: semi-final preview – Winston-Salem Open 2012
French top ranked player, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, will take on the third seed, John Isner, in the semi-final clash at Winston-Salem Open 2012, last warm-up tournament before the US Open. The French star crushed Spain’s Marcel Granollers with a breadstick while
Isner dumped Belgium’s David Goffin in straight sets at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event held in North Carolina, United States.
Seeded top in this tournament, Tsonga required 53 minutes to crush the Spanish challenger in their second encounter. He quickly reeled off the opening five games before wrapping up the match with an impressive 6-1, 6-2 score line. The French recorded a lower
first serve share of 64 per cent but was never threatened with any breakpoint.
“I’m very happy because I played a bit less than the two [previous] matches and also because I played very good tennis. For me it’s good. It’s good for the rest of the tournament,” said the delighted French in an on-court interview after overpowering Granollers.
The 27-year-old lost in the opening round against Jeremy Chardy at the Rogers Cup last week but re-gained his strength at the Wake Forest University. He took down Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci and the Ukrainian qualifier, Sergiy Stakhovsky, in straight sets in
the opening two rounds.
The American number one on the other hand warded off early resistance to triumph over Goffin in his first encounter. He also swiped his entire serves without encountering any breakpoint and capitalised on two out of eight break chances to formulate a 7-6(5),
6-3 success.
“I’m glad I got through these three matches,” said Isner in a post match press conference. “These are three matches where, on paper, I’m the favourite. I should win, so I’m glad to have gotten to the semis now.”
Isner is also in amazing form this season as he is coming off from a final four showing at the Toronto Masters. He has won 10 of last 11 matches at his home soil and triumphed over 13th seeded Jurgen Melzer en route to semis.
His impressive run of form starts after losing in the opening round at the Wimbledon Championships. He conquered the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport (defeated Lleyton Hewitt) and then cruised into the final four at the Atlanta Tennis
Championships (lost to fourth seed Andy Roddick).
Both contestants will face each other for the fourth time with the American leading 2-1 in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against Tsonga. However, Isner battled past the top ranked French contender in their last duel at the Davis Cup in France.
Tsonga has secured a semi-final berth at the Wimbledon Championships and reached quarter-finals at the London Olympics. However, he has not shown much success on hard courts this season against top players. Isner on the other end is expected to formulate
a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory against the top seed. He has support of his home crowd and is in great form on the hard courts.
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