David Ferrer will take on
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals of Roland Garros 2013 on Friday, the 7th
June. Tsonga is the first time semi-finalist in his home Grand Slam whereas
Ferrer is there for the second consecutive year. They had impressive run to the
semi-finals where they are the only two players who are yet to drop a set.
Tsonga’s straight sets victory over Roger Federer in the quarter-finals was
particularly remarkable since even his die-hard fans would not have betted on
that result. Ferrer has flown below the radar doing his job without much media publicity.
Ferrer is 2-1 up in head-to-head
meetings. He is three years older and five inches shorter. Both are equally
fast, but Ferrer has better foot work whereas Tsonga’s feet have to dance with
forty extra pounds of flesh. Ferrer will start running from the first ball and
keep running till eternity with the same speed. All balls will be successfully
chased making opponent to go beyond the lines. Tsonga will have to hit many
winners in a single rally to score a single point. His tally of unforced errors
will rise beyond safety, unless he is able to keep the points short with
superlative all court game. Baseline rallies against the human black board will
show a death wish in a despondent mind. Ferrer will keep coming back from the
dying positions again and again. Tsonga is sometimes seen steamrolling his
opponents, but when that does not happen, he has been found without plan B. He
becomes clueless when his normal game is not clicking against his opponent.
With Ferrer or Andy Murray, the match-up is different than from Federer.
On the other hand, Ferrer is a returning
machine, which has also learned to lace the returns with deadly sting. Sometimes
there are no gaps in his court and the only way to score would be to force him
into errors. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer can do it with their normal game,
but Tsonga is not that consistent or patient. Tsonga is a rare breed who is
naturally aggressive and has all types of shots from any part of the court. In
his comparison, Ferrer might look one-dimensional, but that dimension
works. Ferrer has been called to be lacking in any single weapon around which
he can devise his winners, but his counterpunching style has become too hot for
most of the players. He keeps his unforced errors to a minimum and does not
defeat himself, come what may. Tsonga, on the other hand, can become dispirited
when things do not go his way.
Tsonga's propensity to thrive on
crowd support may not totally put out Ferrer, since Ferrer has seen it all when
he defeated him on his best surface in Paris in the BNP Paribas Masters 2012. It would be another match in
Paris against the same local lad and Ferrer is not expected to melt down under
the vocal heat from the stands. Ferrer has a better winning package on clay,
but Tsonga has capability to rise to new heights as he did against Federer in
the quarter-finals. Since Ferrer is basically a defender, the outcome of the
match is on the racquet of Tsonga. If he makes numerous unforced errors, he
will have to cry once more at Roland Garros. If he plays with controlled
aggression, he can give hope to his nation to have its first champion since 1983.
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