ROTTERDAM – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won an all-French match Wednesday to book the first of the quarter-final places at the ATP Rotterdam Open as he defeated compatriot Michael Llodra 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Llodra, the 2008 champion, has now lost all three of his matches with 2008 Australian open finalist Tsonga.
The French winner, who has put together back-to-back wins for the first time in a month, will next play either fourth-seeded Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych or Russian qualifier Dmitry Tursunov. “It was a tough match,” said Tsonga, working to lift a ranking which has sunk to 18th after falling from the Top ten due to inactivity due to injury in the second half of 2010.
“Mika is one of the best players on this (indoor) surface. I started well but he played better than me in the first set. I was happy to get the win, it was pretty difficult. “My two previous wins gave me the confidence going in, but I also played well. In the quarter-finals, I can just play my game. I’ve been getting better with each match this year.”
Tsonga is recovering from a bizarre end to his Australian Open campaign, squandering a two-sets-to-one lead against Alexandr Dolgopolov and collapsing in the last two sets against the young Ukrainian in the third round. Two more Frenchman squared off at the Ahoy complex, with Benoit Paire putting out Gilles Simon 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in just over 90 minutes. Spain’s Feliciano Lopez beat German Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4.
Two-time losing Australian Open finalist Andy Murray was making his start this week later against Marcos Baghdatis. Murray is looking to restore confidence after losing in straight sets just over a week ago in the Melbourne title match against Novak Djokovic a year after also going out in a trophy bid at the hands of Roger Federer.
But Cypriot Baghdatis will be out to destroy that dream of the only man to ever lose three Grand Slam finals in straights sets after winning two of three career meetings with the fifth-ranked Scot.
