Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Mardy Fish – Round Robin Preview: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2011
Two of the most talented players in the world of tennis will go one-on-one against each other for their second Round Robin clash at the season ending grand finale, the Barclays ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour
Finals. The world number six, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, will compete against the eighth ranked American, Mardy fish, on Tuesday night to enhance their chances for reaching the semi-finals of the mega event.
The contest will be staged on indoor hard courts of the glorious O2 Arena in London and the loser might get sidelined from the race to the semis. Both Tsonga and Fish have lost their opening Round Robin matches to former world
number one players, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal respectively, and desperately need a win to remain alive in the draw.
The sixth seed Frenchman is 52-23 in the current season, with two championship titles to his name. He was also dumped in the final of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, just a week before the start of the ATP World Tour Finals.
Tsonga’s fiery accurate serve and long reach is feared by most of the competitors and the French will be heavily relying on these strengths in the coming battle against Fish.
Tsonga earned a place in the elite eight-man field of the ATP World Tour Finals with consistent performances with the racquet but his momentum was halted by the Swiss maestro, Federer, in the opening matchup. Tsonga dragged the
matchup into the third set but crumbled eventually to finish on the losing side. He is playing the circuit ending event for the second time, as he was dumped in the Round Robin stage in 2008 edition of the tournament.
American’s number one, Fish, has been in his prime form while coming to London. He finished as the semi-finalist or better in a number of tournaments this season and has one championship title under his belt, which he won on his
home soil, Los Angeles, the United States. Fish rides a 43-23 winning record for the season, which misses that of Tsonga’s narrowly.
The eighth seed had made it to the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time in his career and has claimed that being the debutant in the mega event puts him under lesser pressure as compared to the other veterans. Fish gave some
real tough time to the world number two, Nadal, in his opening three-setter in Round Robin but it was his lack of experience which led him down in the intense pressure situations of the match.
Despite of playing professional tennis for a number of years, the two men have met just on one prior occasion. Tsonga took down Fish in an enthralling five-set clash, 6-4, 6-7(5), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, in the round of 16 at the US Open
earlier this year and will be eyeing to repeat the same results on Tuesday night as well.
“With the lights back, dark, it makes for good tennis. Conditions are absolutely perfect. That took a little bit of getting used to, I guess 20 minutes or so,” commented the American debutant.
Wasting 20 minutes to get settled in the contest, against a belligerent competitor like Tsonga, might prove too taxing for Fish on Tuesday night. The sixth seed French is the hot favourite for the contest but a three-setter with
a close finish is expected.
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