Tennis News

For a guy who missed the first 11 weeks of the season with an arm injury, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is sure looking comfortable on the court these days. Following an impressive 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 win over a resurgent Rafael Nadal at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, the Frenchman is into his second final in a span of three weeks.

Credit Tsonga’s ability to stay mostly healthy since returning to the ATP World Tour in March. That and a renewed sense of confidence.

“I’m really happy to work hard because I know I can count on my body,” said Tsonga, who’s into his 22^nd tour-level final (12-9). “It’s something great for me because it was not always like this. Today I’m a lot stronger than I was maybe a few years ago.”

The Metz champion has indeed had his fair share of injuries since his pro debut in 2004. In 2006, he was limited to eight events due to back and abdominal issues. Not long after reaching the one and only Grand Slam final of his career, at the 2008 Australian Open (l. to Novak Djokovic), the 6-foot-2 right-hander seemed to battle one ailment after another. A right knee injury later that year would sideline him for three months and require surgery. There have since been hip, back and knee injuries. But for the moment Tsonga has put all that behind him, his sole focus now winning the 13^th ATP World Tour title of his career.

“He’s a very enthusiastic player. He feeds on the energy of the crowd a lot. He’s very powerful, big serve,” said Djokovic, the man who stands between Tsonga and his second title of 2015. “I think his game heavily relies on the serve. If he has a high first‑serve percentage, he’s managing to get some free points there. Then he’s dangerous.”

Tsonga, now 30-13 on the abbreviated year, makes no secret of the fact that he likes the speedy hard courts at the Qizhong Tennis Center, where he has twice reached the semi-finals or better.

“This surface is one of my favorites,” he said. “I know I’m able to play good tennis.”

If he’s going to upset the World No. 1 Djokovic, a player against whom he’s 6-13 in FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups, and one who has yet to drop a set this week, he’ll need to pull out all the stops. But as he showed against Nadal in his fifth Top-10 win of 2015, he’ll put his body on the line if he has to. During the third set of that semi-final showdown, Tsonga executed an acrobatic diving volley to set up his first match point.

“For me, it was today or never,” he reflected on the play. “At the moment you see the ball a little bit far. You know it’s going to be difficult to stay on your feet. You just go. You don’t think about anything at this moment. Just to try to catch the ball. That’s what I did. It worked.”

By reaching the Shanghai final, Tsonga has jumped from No. 15 to No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Race to London. With a title, he would add 400 more points and move within 545 points of No. 8 David Ferrer. The Top 8 players on Nov. 9 move on to the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, Nov. 15-22.

Novak Djokovic was at his best on Saturday, cruising into the Shanghai Rolex Masters final with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory over Andy Murray.

Djokovic reached the final in his seventh consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, extending his overall winning streak to 16 straight matches and 20 consecutive sets won. The Serb sets a final clash against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday, with a third Shanghai crown in sight. He previously prevailed in 2012 (d. Murray) and 2013 (d. Del Potro).

“It’s the best match of the tournament at the right time against a player who was in form and one of my biggest rivals,” Djokovic reflected. “He’s a player I lost to a couple months ago in the Montreal final. Obviously there was a lot at stake. Whenever we play against each other, it’s always exciting. It’s always a huge challenge. But I was ready. I came in from the very first point with the right intensity, played great, on a very high level.

“I had a very high first-serve percentage throughout the entire match. He had a very low one. I think that also made a difference in terms of the scoreline.”

The World No. 1 applied significant pressure on Murray from the start. The Scot staved off a pair of break points in the opening game of the match, but Djokovic would not be denied two games later, breaking for 2-1 and never looking back. In a dominant display of baseline aggression, he would reel off 24 of the next 27 points to capture the first set in a mere 25 minutes. Murray was victimised by 17 unforced errors in the opener, but looked poised to make it a competitive affair after securing an immediate break to begin the second set.

Murray’s lead would be short lived, however, as a double fault in the next game would hand the break back and Djokovic would surge to the finish line. The Serb laced a backhand down the line to punctuate the 68-minute win. He fired five aces and converted on five of eight break chances in total.

Djokovic carries a 13-6 FedEx ATP Head2Head edge against Tsonga. The Frenchman turned in a brilliant display in relinquishing just four games in the third round of last year’s ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Toronto. He would go on to claim his second Masters 1000 title (d. Federer) and will be hoping for similar success against the top seed on Sunday.

Victory would bring Djokovic’s Masters 1000 title haul to 25, pulling him to within two of Rafael Nadal’s record. The Serb is currently tied with Roger Federer for second place on the list. Appearing in his 83rd tour-level final, he is also bidding to claim his 58th title.

“It was tough,” said Murray. “I’m obviously disappointed with the way I played. I served poorly in the first set especially. You can’t afford to do that against Novak with the way he’s playing just now, the amount of confidence he has in his game, and the conditions over here. You have to do better than that.

“I made it extremely difficult for myself. I just couldn’t get myself in it. Even the second set, got that break at the beginning and was hoping to kick on a little bit. Just didn’t serve well at all tonight. It was tough.”

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