ATP World Tour Finals: Federer Passes Tsonga Test In The Opener

Roger Federer continued his mastery over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the opening match of Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London defeating him in three sets 6-2 2-6 6-4. 

Federer raced through the first set riding  on his characteristic first serves which Tsonga found difficult to return effectively. Tsonga was playing big points poorly, not pacing his game to be effective in the crucial situations.  Federer was dominating the ground rallies too. The set was over in no time with spectators yearning for a gripping opener.  The score read 6-2.

And their prayers were answered. Tsonga upped the strength in his serves and ground strokes. More than that he started remaining in the rallies a bit longer. Many a time, Federer’s backhand gave clues to Tsonga how to win the crucial points. Tsonga takes risks and it paid off. Winning ordinary points in spectacular manner which brought him cheers from the stands raised his morale and at the same time lowered that of his rival.  There was no hesitation in Tsonga’s mind when he served for the set at 5-2 and the match went into the decider. 

The third set gave no early clues to the end result. Both the players were playing their own game well. Federer had brought more defence into his strategy. The crucial game came at 4-5 for Tsonga when he served to stay in the match. The better match player that he is, Federer seized the moment when Tsonga buried an easy volley into the net and double faulted to go down 0-30. When Tsonga failed to set his first serve in, Federer literally jumped into the second serve to hurry Tsonga into a poor shot to set up a triple match point. He did not falter on the second and wrapped up the set 6-4.