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  • Preview: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Richard Gasquet

    1/19/08 7:10 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - Having already defeated ninth-seeded Andy Murray in the opening round of the Australian Open, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be looking to pull off his second big upset of the week on Saturday. To do so he’ll have to take out Richard Gasquet.

    It will be an all-French affair in this fourth-round match when fellow fast-rising Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet do battle in Melbourne Park. On paper it looks like a salivating matchup, as both players have been in impressive form throughout the first three rounds of the tournament. Tsonga kicked off his run by upsetting Andy Murray in a fourth-set tiebreaker and he has not dropped a single set in two matches since then. Gasquet dropped a set in his first and third round matches, but he was nothing short of flawless in his second-round blowout of Feliciano Lopez. As we know from that match and from his epic win over Roddick last year at Wimbledon, when Gasquet is in a rhythm he is nearly unstoppable.

    Not only are these two players on top of their games Down Under, they were also on a roll throughout the last year. Tsonga enjoyed a breakout season in 2007, soaring from 212 in the world rankings up to number 43. He reached the fourth round of Wimbledon (where he lost to Gasquet) and the third round of the U.S. Open. Two weeks ago he reached the semi-finals in Adelaide and his run there included a straight-set win over Lleyton Hewitt. In addition to his breakout result at Wimbledon, Gasquet was consistent enough over the full season to qualify for his first-ever appearance at the year-end Masters Cup.

    Tsonga and Gasquet have met head-to-head three times already in their young careers, with Gasquet holding a 2-1 advantage. In fact, all three of those matches came in the last seven months, starting at Wimbledon. Gasquet won in straight sets there, but then Tsonga got revenge on the carpet of Lyon 6-4, 6-4. In the most recent meeting Gasquet broke the tie between the two players with a 7-5, 7-6(3) at the Masters Series Paris.

    Tsonga will probably attempt to blow Gasquet off the court with huge serves and forehands, and while that’s an acceptable strategy, he’ll have to do it in a well-thought-out manner. He needs to force the issue at net because Gasquet can wear him out from the baseline, and when Tsonga does approach the net he absolutely must avoid his opponent’s lethal one-handed backhand. Although Gasquet handled him at Wimbledon, you have to think the slick Plexicushion surface will give Tsonga at least a fighting chance of leveling the head-to-head score between the two Frenchmen.

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