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Friday November 13, 2009

On Tsong-a in Paris

PARIS: Defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed only 52 minutes to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters, easily beating Gilles Simon of France 6-2, 6-3 yesterday.

The eight-seeded Tsonga, who won three titles this season and can still qualify for the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals later this month, never faced a break point and broke his opponent’s serve three times.

There is still one spot up for grabs for the season-ending event scheduled in London from Nov 22-29 after Nikolay Davydenko of Russia earned his place despite losing to Robin Soderling in the third round.

Tsonga, who beat three top-10 opponents last year on his way to the title in Paris, will next face either second-seeded Rafael Nadal or 14th-seeded Tommy Robredo. He will travel to England if he defends his title in Paris.

Playing it cool: France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga flipping his racquet during his Paris Masters third-round match against Gilles Simon yesterday. — Reuters

“I’m not thinking about London,” said Tsonga, who had 13 aces yesterday. “I’m thinking about defending my title, or even more, about going to get a new title instead of thinking about London.”

Simon, who injured his right knee in a two-hour, three-set match against Ivan Ljubicic in the previous round, was hampered from the start by the wound and struggled to return Tsonga’s powerful serves.

Soderling also has slim hopes of qualifying for the prestigious event following his victory over former champion Davydenko 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Despite his loss, the sixth-seeded Davydenko secured his place following seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco’s loss to Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Soderling’s next opponent will be third-seeded Novak Djokovic, who defeated French qualifier Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-2.

“I was moving better (than yesterday),” Djokovic said. “I was using the chances to go to the net and to make some winners when they have been given to me.

“And I gained the control of the match in the early stages of the first set.”

Djokovic, coming off a win over top-ranked Roger Federer in the Swiss Indoors final last week, reached the quarterfinals for the first time after winning 80% of the points played on his first serve. Clement saved two match points before Djokovic took the match when his opponent put a forehand into the net.

“I want to do well here,” Djokovic said. “I know it’s a very important tournament and I just hope to maintain the high level of performance I had in the last two months.” — AP

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