Tsonga recovers from slow start as French run riot

BRISBAN – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga recovered from a disastrous start to overcome Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen and lead a posse of Frenchmen into the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International yesterday.

Tsonga failed to win a game in the first set but came back to win the last two sets in tie-breaks to ensure four Frenchmen made the final eight.
He closed out the match 0-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/5) to join Richard Gasquet, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Florent Serra in the quarter-finals. Amelie Mauresmo and Marion Bartoli are also through to the last eight of the women’s draw.
The only Frenchman not to enjoy success on Wednesday was Michael Llodra, beaten 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 by eighth seed Radek Stepanek.
Tsonga appeared headed for an early exit when he succumbed in the first set in just 27 minutes to an inspired Nieminen.
But he regrouped at the start of the second and began to find his touch around the court.
He also lifted his first-serve percentage rate from 42 to 70 and once he got to the tie-breaks he never looked like losing them.
‘Jarkko played very well at the beginning and for me it was tough because he was all over the court and he hit the ball very hard,’ Tsonga said.
‘It’s very difficult when he plays like that.’
Tsonga now plays Gasquet for a place in the semi-finals, a player he knows well from their days in the junior ranks.
‘It will be a different game (from Nieminen) I think, because he knows my game very well,’ Tsonga said.
Mathieu was in excellent form as he beat a disappointing Ernests Gulbis, who bundled top seed Novak Djokovic out of the tournament on Tuesday.
Mathieu broke the Latvian once in each set as he cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 win.
‘I played a good match from the beginning to the end — I played pretty solidly,’ Mathieu said.
‘I played well from the baseline — I didn’t miss too much. I was in control, I think.’
He admitted he was expecting to play Djokovic, but said taking on Gulbis was also a challenge.
‘The level is very close so you never know who you are going to play,’ he said.
‘Every match you play is going to be tough. He had a very good match yesterday so I knew it was going to be tough today.’
Mathieu faces a tough quarter-final against 19-year-old Japanese player Kei Nishikori, who upset fifth seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 in a late match on centre court.
Earlier third seeded Spaniard Fernando cBerdasco lookedinous form as he disposed of big-serving Croatian Mario Ancic 6-2, 6-3.
Verdasco takes on Serra in the quarter-finals final after the Frenchman beat Austrian Jurgen Melzer in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. – Nampa-AFP