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3/7/09 2:50 AM | Ricky Dimon
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga pulls visiting France even with the Czech Republic with a straight-set victory on Friday afternoon. Gilles Simon lost to Tomas Berdych in the opening singles rubber.
No stranger to winning big matches, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga delivered on Friday when France absolutely needed a clutch performance. Trailing the host Czech Republic 1-0 in an opening-round Davis Cup tie, Tsonga defeated an in-form Radek Stepanek 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(1) in two hours and 11 minutes.
After teammate Gilles Simon went down to Tomas Berdych in the first singles rubber, Tsonga performed like a man on a mission. Stepanek was able to hang with him for a while, but the outcome never appeared to be in serious doubt. In the first set Tsonga lost only seven points in six service games, and a late break of serve was all he needed to take the opening frame of play.
With momentum in had, the Frenchman stormed through the second set. While Tsonga's forehand caught fire, Stepanek's level of play dropped considerably. The Czech served relatively but well but had no answer for his opponent in any other are of the game. Tsonga capitalized on both of his break chances in set two and cruised 6-1.
Stepanek remained utterly hopeless against Tsonga's serve throughout the third, but he at least gave the crowd something to cheer about by taking care of his six service games, forcing a tiebreaker. The 'breaker, however, simply saw more overwhelming stuff from Tsonga. The No. 11 player in the world lost just one point and finishing things off with a final forehand winner.
Tsonga fired 31 winners to just 19 unforced erros and blasted 11 aces while winning 88 percent of his first-serve points.
Saturday's doubles rubber will pit Michael Llodra and Richard Gasquet against Lukas Dlouhy and Jan Hernych.
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