Kei Nishikori stuns Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach round three – Shanghai Rolex Masters 2011
Another surprising outcome was seen in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, as the world number eight, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, crashed out of the tournament at the hands of the 47th ranked Japanese competitor, Kei Nishikori, on
Wednesday evening.
Being played on the outdoor hard courts of Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, the enthralling contest witnessed some amazing game play from the 21-year-old Japanese. Nishikori took two hours and twenty eight minutes
of play to wrap up the three-setter 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-4, to move into the third round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters Series event.
Despite of minor strains in his lower back after the first set, Nishikori made a tremendous recovery to reel off the last two sets to conclude his surprise victory in style. It was his 30th win in the current ATP season, with 19 defeats already
to his name.
Fourth seeded Tsonga remained sloppy throughout the contest and never appeared in complete control of his game at any time. He faced some serious resistance from Nishikori in the opening set but thanks to some silly unforced errors from the Japanese, Tsonga
eventually took the first set in the tie breaker round. Nishikori then shifted his gears in the following sets and raced through the games with ease to register an emphatic victory over the world number eight.
“Of course [I am] disappointed because I lost,” said Tsonga. “But today I had a good opponent. Even if maybe I didn’t play with a lot of energy, I played good tennis. Today my opponent was just better than me. I have more points than all my opponents [in
the Battle for London]. So, of course, for the moment I'm confident. I will take some rest and then I will come back to qualify.”
Despite of 11 thudding aces and 37 out of 50 first serve points in the match, Tsonga suffered four cracking serve breaks from the Japanese competitor to finish on the losing side in the end. Nishikori was evenly met by Tsonga in most segments of the game
but his break point conversions proved to be the only decisive factor in the contest.
Up against Nishikori in the third round is the other surprise qualifier, Santiago Giraldo, who stunned the 14th seeded Austrian, Jurgen Melzer, in the second round. Nishikori will face the Colombian on Thursday to battle for a place in the quarter-finals
of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
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