In a highly anticipated clash between two of the most entertaining players on the ATP Tour, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga showed why he will be a dangerous opponent for anyone this week as he brushed aside Dustin Brown 6-1, 6-3 in just 45 minutes in their second round match at the ATP Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. Tsonga, who only lost six points on serve in the entire match, looked comfortable throughout and sent a warning to the rest of the field this week in Doha.
Tsonga Cruises In opener
Tsonga was the first to serve and the world number 12 looked comfortable immediately as his opening service game was held to love, including a couple of lacklustre returns from Brown. The French no.1 made his move quickly and broke in the second game, taking his first break point and the German hadn't made Tsonga work for it, with unforced errors already providing a serious problem for Brown. The third game was Tsonga's toughest hold of the match, where was taken to deuce, but the French number two served one of his 12 aces of the match at deuce to help consolidate his break. Brown was again struggling on his serve and the world number 72 was facing two break points at 15-40. An excellent serve and volley combination saved the first but he couldn't save the second and Tsonga backed up that second break with another hold to love to make it 5-0. The German got himself on the scoreboard with a hold to love but Tsonga was able to hold with losing a point for the third time this set, to seal the first set 6-1 in a staggeringly quick 17 minutes.
Tsonga Continues To Cruise
Brown was first to serve in the second set and both players exchanged quick service holds to 15. Tsonga made his first move of the second set in the third game, where he broke Brown's serve to 30 after taking the first break point. Yet another hold to love followed for Tsonga in an extremely impressive serving performance, where he won 85 percent of points behind both his first and second serve. Even though the end seemed near, Brown was not departing without a fight and was able to save a break point in the next game before holding after a deuce. Brown, who came into this match after a 3 set victory over Facundo Bagnis in the previous round, didn't create any break point opportunities in the whole match and the end was near after three successive quick holds to make it 5-3 to Tsonga. The Frenchman, who beat Andrey Kuznetsov in 3 sets in the first round, was imperious again against the Brown serve. He created three Match points and took the second to seal a 6-1, 6-3 win in just 45 minutes.
Tsonga looked in fine form before the first Grand Slam of the season, the upcoming Australian Open. Melbourne Park holds happy memories for the Frenchman as he reached his only Grand Slam final there in 2008, losing to Novak Djokovic. Tsonga will play Tomas Berdych in an intriguing quarterfinal matchup on Thursday.