Rafael Nadal vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsong: Quarter-Final Preview - Sony Ericsson Open 2012
World number two, Rafael Nadal, squares off against the French number one, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open 2012 on Wednesday night. He is bidding for his maiden title at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Masters 1000 event taking place at Key Biscayne in Miami, United States.
Seeded second in this tournament, is looking forward to break the Miami-Jinx this circuit after showing spectacular skills throughout the tournament. He crushed Santiago Giraldo with a bagel in his opening match in the second round. Nadal kept momentum floating in the following match-up against the 25th seed, Radek Stepanek and recorded a straight set victory. In the pre-quarter round duel, an elegant Nadal ousted the Japanese number one, Kei Nishikori, in straight sets to set-up this date.
"The beginning was a very tough match for me," the Spanish number one was quoted after outsmarting Nishikori. "I think I start playing more aggressively. At the end of the first set, I felt that I started to win my serves easier than him. I believe that I had more the control of the game. In the second set I started well, 3-0. Just [at] 5 3, I didn't play my best game there and he broke me. [I was] happy to have the break back later and finally win the match."
The former world number one superbly started his 2012 campaign and after tumbling over his arch rival, Roger Federer, in the semi-finals, he secured a title-round berth at the Australian Open. However, he lost in the third straight final to Novak Djokovic and decided to skip some tournaments before cruising to the last four at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Despite losing to Federer in the semis, he assertively entered the Miami hard courts.
Tsonga on the other end poses similar intensity as he also reached this spot without losing a set. The French also overpowered two seeded stars, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer, before facing the Spanish number one.
The 26-year-old thundered into the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in the first week of January and after stunning the Swiss Maestro, Federer, he claimed his first year-to-date title. He then reached far in following tournaments before entering this hard court event.
Both stars are clashing each other for the 10th time at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park. Nadal leads the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 6-3 against the French. However, he was underplayed by the world number six in three sets in their last encounter at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
The left-handed Spaniard seems to be on fire at this ATP tournament. He made final showdowns three times here and fell to Djokovic last year. Nadal is looking forward to get the breakthrough this circuit and is expected to outclass Tsonga with a 7-5, 6-2 score line for a spot in the last four. However, in order to achieve this goal, the Spaniard needs to capitalise on Tsonga’s double faults and should cash in more break chances.
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