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10/27/09 9:44 PM | Ricky Dimon
Kevin Kim makes things interesting against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga despite going up against heavy odds on Tuesday night in Lyon. Nonetheless, it is not enough as Tsonga advances to the second round in two tight sets.
It wasn't easy, but Jo-Wilfried Tsonga got off to a winning start at the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon on Tuesday night.
In a match that featured no breaks of serve and only two break points, Tsonga beat Kevin Kim 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in one hour and 35 minutes. The hard-fought victory puts Tsonga into the second round, where he will face either French wildcard Vincent Millot or last week's Stockholm runner-up, Olivier Rochus.
An impressive Kim was competitive throughout the first set--and the entire match--against Tsonga, who seemed content to take care of his service games while feeling out his underdog opponent, whom he had never faced. The 87th-ranked American won 26 of 32 first-serve points in the opening frame of play and never faced a break point. Tsonga held serve just as easily, taking care of 25 of 28 first-serve points en route to a tiebreaker. With the pressure starting to mount, Lyon's No. 1 seed raised both his intensity and his game. Tsonga struck for a quick mini-break at 1-1 and earned another at 4-1 with a huge down-the-line backhand. He threw away one set point on his own serve at 6-2, but after Kim closed to within 6-5, Tsonga blasted a set-ending ace out wide.
Despite having the momentum in hand and the crowd behind him, Tsonga simply could not pull away from Kim. The eighth-ranked Frenchman finally earned two break points at 2-2, but Kim won the next four points to hold on for a 3-2 advantage. Both men held serve without any trouble the rest of the way to another tiebreaker.
A back-and-forth decider saw Kim double-fault on the first point, only to have Tsonga give away the mini-break with a bad forehand error at 2-0. Another forehand miss from the favorite gave Kim a mini-break lead at 4-3. The 31-year-old soon earned a 5-3 edge, but Tsonga got the mini-break back for 4-5. Thanks to a pair of huge service winners, the fan favorite suddenly had a match point at 6-5. After a furious rally, Tsonga struck a clinching backhand winner past Kim, who was standing helpless at the net.
Tsonga finished with 14 aces and two double-faults while winning a dominant 47 of 52 first-serve points. Kim wrapped up his commendable fight with five aces and three double-faults while putting in 71 percent of his first serves.
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