Novak Djokovic vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: quarter-final preview – French Open 2012
World number one Novak Djokovic will battle against the fifth seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals at the French Open 2012, second of the four Grand Slam events taking place in Paris, France. The Serbian star is coming off after triumphing over
22nd seeded Andreas Seppi while the top local star also required five sets to overpower his opponent, Stanislas Wawrinka.
Both contenders are battling each other for the 12th time but the Serbian number one, Djokovic, leads in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series by 6-5 against Tsonga.
Seeded top in this tournament, Djokovic is bidding for his fourth straight Grand Slam title. He has won 25 matches in a row at the Grand Slams and is on the right path to conquer his third year-to-date title. The Serb devastated Italy’s Potito Starace, Slovenia’s
Blaz Kavcic and the French qualifier, Nicolas Devilder, before encountering Seppi.
Djokovic made a drastic start against the Italian and lost the opening two sets. However, he made a stunning comeback and outclassed Seppi with a 4-6, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 success in four hours and 18 minutes.
The Serbian star commented in a courtside interview after tumbling over Seppi, "I was very fortunate to come through this match. I was fighting. When I was two sets down, I believed I could win the match, and that's the only positive I can really pick up
from today's match. It was one of those days where you don't feel [like anything] is working really. My serve was well. But aside that, I could not get into the rhythm. I was fighting, and I think because of the fight I won the match."
The 27-year-old on the other end made a stunning start of the season as he conquered the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in the first week of January. He then made several quarter-final berths but has not impressed on the clay surface. Tsonga exited from the round
of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open and made a final eight appearance at the Rome Masters.
At this prestigious clay court tournament, Tsonga required four sets to overpower his opponents, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and Andrey Kuznetsov, in the opening two rounds. Regardless of crushing Fabio Fognini in straight sets, the French took down 18th
seeded Wawrinka in a five-set thriller before setting up a date with Djokovic.
The contenders last fought each other at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia, a Masters 1000 event taking place on the red clay courts in Rome, last month. The 25-year-old Serb crushed Tsonga with a breadstick in 83 minutes. He ruled throughout the battle and
despite clobbering an almost equal first serve share of 74 per cent, Djokovic impressively clicked 43 out of 58 points on it to pull out the victory.
Overall, the top seeded Serb is most likely to triumph over Tsonga with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 score line despite facing a pessimistic crowd. However, Djokovic needs to find his momentum early in the match and should cash in more break opportunities in order
to ease past his rival.
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