Stanislas Wawrinka edges pass Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round – French Open 2011
In an exhilarating contest being played at the Philippe Chatrier Court in Paris, France, the world number 14, Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, outplayed the 17 seed local boy, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round of Roland Garros
on Friday. The Swiss stunned Tsonga by winning the five-setter 4-6,6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-3, after labouring for four hours and three minutes to qualify for the final 16 in the French Open.
Wawrinka made an unbelievable comeback in the contest after dropping the opening two sets and was on the verge of defeat as Tsonga reached the match point in the third set. It appeared as if the Frenchman will seal a straight sets
victory over the 14th seed Wawrinka but the Swiss surprised every person in the local crowd, turning the tide in the following sets to come out as the winner.
The two men faced each other for the first time at Metz in 2007, when Tsonga took down the Swiss 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4, in the round of 32 of the tournament. He was about to repeat the similar feat in the Friday afternoon’s matchup
but it was the sheer brilliance of Wawrinka which stole victory from him in one of the most dramatic turnaround of this year’s Roland Garros.
The hard-hitting French was off to a blistering start and devastated his opponent in the opening two sets of the contest. He fired 54 winners in the contest, along with 10 thudding aces, as compared to Wawrinka, who secured 44
winners in the game to come out as the winners in the end.
Tsonga was very quick to reel off the first two sets and race to a substantial lead of 2-0 in the competition. The Swiss opponent appeared in no sorts of form in at the start of the contest but gathered up his pace later to take
down Tsonga, whose dominance prevailed in the earlier parts of the game.
The French was heading for a comprehensive victory in the contest as he reached a 4-1 lead in the third set but a dramatic momentum swing took place, as Wawrinka raced from behind to level the scores at 6-6 and enforced a tie breaker
round. Tsonga reached the match point in the tie breaker but failed to convert the golden opportunity, letting Wawrinka back in the contest.
The Swiss amazed everyone by reeling off the following two sets to conclude a memorable victory in the French Open and booked a date with his fellow compatriot, world number three, Roger Federer in the fourth round of the tournament.
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