Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will face off Marcel Granollers in quarters – Winston-Salem Open 2012
Top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga set up a date with the Spanish star, Marcel Granollers, in the quarter-finals at the Winston-Salem Open 2012, an ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event held in North Carolina, United States. The French star dumped Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets while Granollers overpowered the Latvian qualifier, Ernests Gulbis, in three sets to set up this match.
Tsonga, ranked sixth in the world, lost his serve once but capitalised on two out of eight break chances to triumph over the Ukrainian qualifier in one hour and 34 minutes.
"I feel okay because I feel have good legs, move well, [am] physically strong and I hit the ball well. Now I have to be a bit more focussed on important points," stated the French in a courtside interview after conquering Stakhovsky.
The 27-year-old made a spectacular start to this season as he captured the title at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha (dumped his fourth seeded compatriot Gael Monfils in final round). Spicing his performance further, he secured semi-final berths at the Open 13 in Marseille and the Wimbledon Championships, third of the four Grand Slam events held in Wimbledon. Tsonga then made a final eight showing at the London Olympics but crashed out from the opening round at the Rogers Cup before entering this outdoor hard court event. He has yet to lose a set at the Wake Forest University.
On the other side of net, the sixth seeded Spaniard lost his opening serve with a single break of serve against Gulbis. However, he cashed in three break opportunities to carve out the victory in two hours. Granollers spilled five double faults but manifested a better first serve share of 69 per cent. In addition to this, he amazingly warded off eight out of nine breakpoints he faced to steal the show.
Ranked 25th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Granollers recently made a title-round appearance at the Studena Croatia Open in Umag (lost to second seed Marin Cilic). He also made a fourth round showing at the French Open but lost in the opening round at the Wimbledon Championships. The Spaniard cruised into the final eight at the Rogers Cup, a Masters 1000 event held in Toronto, but crashed out to 14th seed Kei Nishikori in opening round at the Western and Southern Open before entering this event.
Both challengers last fought each other at the Mutua Madrid Open where Tsonga hit back to overpower Granollers in three sets. The French veteran saved two out of four breakpoints he came across and cashed in two out of five break opportunities to pull out the victory in 131 minutes. He smashed fewer aces but clobbered a better first serve share than Granollers.
The Swiss resident, Tsonga, is expected to record a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Granollers. The Spaniard has lost last four matches against a Top 10 player while Tsonga is in awesome run of form.
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