Xavier Malisse overpowers injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in opening round – Valencia Open 2012
Belgian star, Xavier Malisse, recorded a 3-1 retirement victory against second seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the opening round at the Valencia Open 2012 on Tuesday. He was forced to pull out from the tournament with lower back pain, subsequently rewarding
a spot to Malisse in the round of 16 at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 Series event held in Valencia, Spain.
The underdog showed tremendous skills and got the early break of serve. However, Tsonga was forced to retire from this indoor hard court event after trailing at 1-3 in just 23 minutes from start of the match. As a result, Malisse avenged his loss at the
Sony Ericsson Open in Miami earlier this circuit and levelled the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head Series by 2-2 against the world number seven.
The 32-year-old made a thunderous entry at the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències. He drew the first blood in the opening game and took the initial lead. Malisse held is composure after that and kept his following serves with poise. However, after he was
leading 3-1, the French top ranked star felt lower back pain and eventually retired from the tournament.
Ranked 58th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Malisse clobbered a lower first serve share of 40 per cent as compared to his rival’s 50 per cent but spectacularly marked three out of four points on it. He was never threatened
with any barrier and converted one out of three break chances to his advantage.
With the French’s retirement, Malisse advanced into the pre-quarters where the Austrian number one, Jurgen Melzer, awaits. The 31-year-old amazingly dusted away 12 out of 14 breakpoints he faced and cashed five out of 13 break chances to formulate a 6-3,
6-3 success.
Later that day, third seeded Janko Tipsarevic face a similar fate. He was also forced to retire with a right shoulder injury in his opening round match against the French contender, Gilles Simon.
The world number nine drew the first blood in the second game and leaped to a 3-0 lead. However, Tipsarevic lost his serve twice and was trailing at 4-5 when he suffered the injury blow.
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