Tsonga Earns First Masters 1000 Win Since 2017
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga leaned on the home crowd and some big hitting to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 win in more than two years on Monday at the Rolex Paris Masters. The 34-year-old Frenchman beat VTB Kremlin Cup champion Andrey Rublev of Russia 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and will next meet 10th seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy.
The 23-year-old Berrettini is currently in eighth place in the ATP Race To London, which ends Monday, and is looking to qualify for the first time at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London.
Tsonga, a wild-card recipient at his home Masters 1000 event, broke Rublev in the 11th game of the second set with some aggressive returning. The Frenchman increasingly ran around Rublev's second serve in the final two sets to smash forehands and immediately put Rublev on defence.
The 2008 champion slugged 47 winners, including 23 from his forehand wing, and served out the first-rounder. Tsonga, who missed more than seven months last year because of left knee surgery, last won at the Masters 1000 level in May 2017 at the Mutua Madrid Open.
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Frenchman Jeremy Chardy set a second-round date with fourth seed Daniil Medvedev by beating American Sam Querrey 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in a battle of qualifiers. Chardy was out-aced (15 to 22) but earned three breaks to Querrey's one. Medvedev will try to push his ATP Masters 1000 winning streak to 12 after winning back-to-back titles in Cincinnati and Shanghai.
Benoit Paire set an all-French showdown with 13th seed Gael Monfils. Paire beat Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina 7-5, 6-4.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2MXdnkt
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