Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Nicolas Almagro – Quarterfinal Preview: Rogers Cup 2011
After a socking result in the third round, 10th ranked, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France will take on the world number 10, Nicolas Almagro of Spain, in the quarter-finals of Rogers Cup on Friday afternoon.
The much awaited quarter-final matchup will take place on the hard courts of the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Canada, with the winner of the match getting a berth in the semi-final of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
Masters Series event.
Seeded at number 13 in the tournament, Tsonga took off the Rogers Cup in his typical aggressive manner, blowing away every opponent he faced. He took down Fabio Fognini and then went on the devastate Bernard Tomic in straight sets
it the initial rounds of the tournament. Tsonga gave a shocker to the tennis fans all over the world when he outplayed the former world number one, the Swiss maestro, Roger Federer, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-1, in the third round to book a date with Almagro. It was a
rematch of Wimbledon Championships between Federer and Tsonga, with the Frenchman replicating the similar result to inflict a second consecutive win over the world number three.
“I’m happy now to be in the quarter-finals. It was a tough draw to have Federer in the Round of 16. I’m going to rest and hope to play a good match tomorrow,” reflected Tsonga after registering a victory over the Swiss.
The other contestant, Almagro, has also been in a blistering form in the tournament so far and is yet to lose a set. Being the eighth seed in Rogers Cup, Almagro received a bye to have a direct access to the second round of the
tournament, where he outclassed Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets to reach the third round. The Spaniard went one-on-one with the 10th seed French competitor, Richard Gasquet, in the third round and toppled him over at 7-6(5), 6-3, to make it to
the quarter-final draws of the Montreal Masters.
Almagro has been in his finest form this ATP season and has broken into the top-10 players for the first time. Although he got demoted a level to number 10 in the world rankings during the past one month, his overall performance
has been very impressive. The Spaniard has already won three championship titles in the running year so far and has bagged victories in 42 out of 57 singles matches he took part in.
Tsonga has not won a single championship title in the current season and is running a win-loss ratio of 28-14. His two successive victories over the Swiss tennis god, Federer, have brought him under the spot light and the hot favourite
for winning the Friday’s contest. The French has faced Almagro on four prior occasions, crushing the Spaniard every time he faced him to lead the all-time head-to-head series by 4-0. This surely makes Tsonga hot favourite for the quarter-final matchup but
it won’t be an easier task for the Frenchman to take down the in-form Almagro this time round.
The last time these two men met at Madrid Maters and Tsonga devastated Almagro for the fourth time in a row to clear the first round. It appears as if the French will replicate the similar feat in Friday’s matchup after the huge
confidence booster he had by defeating Federer but the eighth seeded Almagro won’t let it go that easy.
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