Rafael Nadal vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – Group B RR Preview: Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2011
In the most crucial Group B matchup at the Barclays ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Finals, world number two, Rafael Nadal of Spain, will take on the sixth ranked Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, on Thursday night.
The highly anticipated contest will be staged on the indoor hard courts of the glorious O2 Arena in London, with the winner of the match getting a berth in the semi-finals of the season ending grand finale. The two contestants are 1-1 in Group B, winning their matches against America’s Mardy Fish but both losing to the Swiss maestro, roger Federer, in the Round Robin stage.
Both Nadal and Tsonga have multiple participations in the circuit’s grand finale and the two of them have no t been that much successful. These two have always struggled to find the best of their form at the ATP World Tour Finals in the past. Despite of remaining in the Top-3 for a number of years, Nadal has never won the season finale. He is 9-9 lifetime at this event, with the best run in the last year, when he went all the way to the final, only to lose to his arch rival Federer.
On the other hand, Tsonga is 2-3 all-time at the ATP World Tour Finals. The Frenchman was dumped in the Round Robin stage in his only previous appearance in 2008 and he might repeat the similar outcome this time round as well if he lost to Nadal in the Thursday’s matchup. The sixth seed French took off his this year’s campaign at the O2 Arena with a hard-fought loss against Federer on Sunday evening but recovered very well in his later Round Robin matchup against Fish, absolutely ravaging the debutant to keep alive in the race to the semi-finals.
Nadal’s dominance in the game has been brutally torn apart by the reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic, in the current season. The Spaniard has suffered crushing defeats at the hands of Djokovic in five finals of the ATP World Tour events this season, all in the Masters Series 1000 and the Grand Slam tournaments. Nadal is currently 67-14 in the running year, with three championship titles to his name but the Spaniard hasn’t won a hard-court tournament for almost a year.
Nadal leads 6-2 against Tsonga in singles encounters, with the last win coming in the Round Robin stage of the Davis Cup competitions this year. The tall Frenchman has already defeated the second seed on the grassy courts of the Queen’s Club, London, earlier this year, breaking his four-match-winning streak against him. The Spaniard still leads 5-1 against Tsonga on hard courts and is hot favourite for winning the Thursday’s matchup as well.
The sixth seed Frenchman will be heavily relying on his big serve and long reach in the contest, while Nadal’s resilience will play the greatest part in his game play. The contest is evenly poised with both men having equally chances to come out as the winner, however, being the superior ranked competitor, Nadal definitely has an edge over Tsonga.
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