Miami Sony Ericsson Open 2012: Nadal Versus Tsonga - Preview

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will take on Rafael Nadal in perhaps the most difficult of the quarter-finals in the Sony Ericsson Open at Miami on Thursday, the 29^th March. It will be fight between attack and defence, flamboyance versus doggedness, and risk taking versus percentage play.

Tsonga relies on his inside out shot from the ad court and that is where it is likely to hurt Nadal most since it is this corner which provides plenty of gaps. Nadal has a tendency to move to his right to convert backhand into forehand and let his forehand corner present gaping holes. Secondly, his racquet grip is such that he can play a down the line forehand very well but is not comfortable in slicing the ball like a squash shot to remain in the rally. However, since Nadal is so good in movement and defensive forehand that he may go on playing cross court forehand from the ad side. Some of these shots will land short and Tsonga has natural movement to advance to the net whenever he gets an extra fraction of second. He will place Nadal into defensive court positions many a time, but then, Nadal is a past master in defensive play. Nadal has excellent passing shots to thwart players rushing to the net for volley. Tsonga has superb volleying skills and good speed, but his footwork is not that good. His extra body mass makes him sometimes unbalanced while executing the volley.  

Tsonga thrives on crowd support and there might be a lot in his favour. His resemblance to Mohammed Ali never went unnoticed. Nadal has a committed fanship and the match is not being played in France. The defences of Nadal are too good for anybody not playing at his best. His retrievals from unreachable positions keep him in the rallies and enable him to prevail in the longer exchanges. Tsonga might try to pull the trigger first in a rally and hope that it does not misfire. He is the one who will take risks and gamble with incessant attack. His aces will outnumber those of Nadal but there would be more unforced errors. He plays his usual game, but does not carry an effective plan B if that game is not succeeding. Nadal plays percentage tennis to perfection and has a tendency to rise from ashes. As the match progresses, the opponent finds it tiring to hit many winners to win a single point. Those with perseverance have succeeded. Tsonga displays that type of perseverance sometimes, but it is not a daily affair. Nadal is unlikely to defeat himself; Tsonga will have to defeat him. On the other hand, Tsonga can sometimes defeat himself. It will therefore be left to whoever plays better on the day. The odds are definitely in favour of Nadal, but Tsonga has beaten him on more occasions last year.