Jo-Wilfried Tsonga laid on another late finishing surge, with his dangerous just-in-time habit paying off with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Juan Martin Del Potro on Sunday and a trophy at the Austrian Open. Besides becoming the first Frenchman to lift the title in the Austrian capital, Tsonga will now leapfrog American Mardy Fish into seventh place in the race for the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals to be staged in London November 20-27.
The top-seeded Tsonga made the most of his Vienna debut with a comeback victory which required two hours and 29 minutes. He trailed a set and a break in a match in which he fired 25 aces and ended it with a winning forehand volley which caught his second-seeded opponent off-balance. The win was the first of his career win over Del Potro after losing three previous matches in their series.
ISTANBUL: Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic added the WTA Championships to her increasingly impressive CV on Sunday beating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the final. Kvitova’s win means the 21-year-old will rise from third to number two in Monday’s new rankings, with current leader Caroline Wozniacki – still yet to lift a major crown – firmly in her sights. Kvitova also became the first Czech to win the end of season tournament since Jana Novotna in 1997 as she ended a glorious season which has seen her rise from 34th in the world at the start of the year.
She now turns her immediate ambitions to leading her country in next week’s Fed Cup final against Russia Moscow after pocketing $1.75 million (1.24 million euros) for Sunday’s success.
