Tennis: Roger Federer needed three sets to see off the challenge of Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the opening encounter of the ATP World Tour Finals.
The Swiss raced swept aside a strangely subdued Tsonga in the first set before losing the second. Federer regained his focus in the third to prevail 6-2 2-6 6-4.
Their fifth meeting this season and 10th in total, the Swiss took a 6-3 head-to-head supremacy going into the encounter, including a straight sets victory in the Paris masters final eight days ago.
Matters resumed where they left off in the French capital with the Swiss racing to a break advantage and a 4-1 lead in quick fashion.
The trademark Federer forehand found the corners with regularity in the mid-part of the opening set and Tsonga, with his mind still seemingly in the locker room, struggled to cope with the early aggression of the 16-time grand slam champion.
By contrast Federer couldn’t have been more relaxed, stroking the ball to its intended spot at will and quickly notching game after game on the scoreboard.
Serving to stay in the set at 2-5, Tsonga was unable to rally and succumbed to a second break and the loss of the first set with a series of errors, including a pitiful double fault which would have been more at home down the local park courts than at the world tour finals.
Onlookers, including Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry who was sat in the Federer box, had expected to see more from the French number one and their expectations were soon raised.
Notwithstanding a supremely confident opening Federer service hold, including an audacious overhead volley winner from near the baseline, Tsonga found his feet in startling fashion in set two, booming ground strokes to the corners from both wings and serving with both power and authority.
Serving at 1-1, Federer lost all concentration and needlessly threw away his serve with three consecutive unforced errors at an early stage in each point.
Tsonga, now with the bit between his teeth, wasn’t about to hand back his unexpected advantage and more confident serving delivered aces, which along with further unforced errors from the Federer racquet, consolidated the Frenchman’s break and established a 3-1 lead.
The set continued in the same vein, apart from a series of sublime exchanges in game seven which saw Federer arrow a desperate yet brilliant defensive slice at the feet of the advancing Tsonga and the Frenchman responded with a backhand crosscourt drive of bewildering power.
More ferocious hitting from Tsonga, an ace and a double fault, followed and ended with Jo-Jo securing a 5-2 lead and with it, effectively the set which he took comfortably in his next service game.
A more composed Federer got matters underway in the deciding set, outfoxing the French sixth seed brilliantly with a number of slow first serves out wide onto the line, earning him victory in the first and third games of the set, and with it a 2-1 position in spite of some deep, confident hitting from Tsonga off the service return.
The pattern continued for two further games with strong serving from both men and a wicked topspin forehand planted into Tsonga’s backhand corner from a short position bringing up 3-2 on serve for Federer.
Game six set the place alight with a miraculous backhand blocked pass down the line by Federer from a high speed approach leaving Tsonga helpless at the net.
Break point beckoned for Roger and his expectant fans after a successful exchange of powerful backhands and a poor Tsonga error. Yet, the breakthrough failed to materialise as Jo-Jo fired down multiple aces to save himself, nearly decapitating one terrorised member of the audience in the front row on two occasions.
Worryingly for Tsonga, Federer, now re-composed, held serve with ease and strolled to a 5-4 lead courtesy of some fine striking on his forehand and a number of disappointing errors from Tsonga.
A decent contest ended abruptly in anti-climactic fashion with an unforced error and a double fault handing Federer a 0-30 lead from which he didn’t look back, sealing victory with the help of a miss-hit backhand return on his second match point.
Federer celebrated and expressed both joy and relief in his courtside post-match interview with Mark Petchey. A clearly disappointed Tsonga spoke candidly to the press, in English but mainly in French about the nature of his defeat, citing Federer’s “super quick” play as well as his own dismal start as being to blame.
The French Journalists present tried to engage Tsonga in debate about topical issues, namely the levels of tax foreign sportsman pay when competing in Britain and the controversial comments made by his compatriot Yannick Noah, accusing top level Spanish sportsmen of widespread doping in a recent interview.
The French number one refused to be drawn on politics and answered only that he “doesn’t care” and is only thinking about his next match at the O2.
Federer conducted a seamless press conference in three languages, his mood undoubtedly buoyed by success in this important opening match.
When asked by the Morning Star what he made of playing at the O2, not a tennis venue in the traditional sense, ever the diplomat he politely replied that it would be unfair on the other great stadiums to name this his favourite but that he finds it "electrifying, great for the players and crowd and that it is somewhere he will be proud to say that he’s played in years to come."
Effortless and charming in person, Federer will walk onto court for the second round of matches with his title defence in good shape. Tsonga must regroup must should draw positives from the match and not be downbeat about his chances which remain intact.
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