Match report

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga © Tennistalk.com
Grand Prix Hassan II
1st round
5/19/08 1 2 Tot
fr  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6 7 12 2
es  Albert Montanes 4 6 10 0
Albert Montanes © Tennistalk.com

  • ATP Casablanca: Tsonga (1) vs Montanes

    5/18/08 11:58 PM | David Cox
    With Richard Gasquet’s recent frame of mind making his chances of surviving the early rounds next week at Roland Garros rather slim, much of the home press focus on the men’s event will fall on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who burst onto the scene so spectacularly in January.

    Tsonga is unlikely to be fazed by this, but clay is not a natural surface for him and he’s very short of match practice on the dirt; hence this venture to Morocco. He lost a strange match to Gilles Simon in Rome, losing five straight points in the deciding set tiebreak from 6-3 up and then after struggling past Nicholas Mahut in Hamburg, he was outplayed by Robin Soderling.

    Montanes may be ranked 60 places lower at 78 (largely due to a paucity of ATP wins from last year’s French Open stretching right through to Barcelona this year) but for me he’s the definite favorite in this match. After an early exit in Monte Carlo qualifying, the Spaniard has exploded to life over the past few weeks, making the quarterfinals in Barcelona (lost 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 to Wawrinka) and in Hamburg (lost 6-2, 6-3 to Djokovic).

    Tsonga hits a heavier ball but Montanes’ court coverage is superb; he’s a crafty grinder with a great single-handed backhand who’s frustrated a lot of well-renowned clay-courters over the years and he could well send the top seed toppling in round one.

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