adminCINCINNATI. — Jo-Wilfried Tsonga crashed back down to earth in his opening match at the Cincinnati Tennis Masters yesterday, losing 6-1, 6-4 to Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
The 12th seed found himself back on court 48 hours after beating Roger Federer to win the title in Toronto, the second at the Masters 1000 level of his career.
But the Frenchman came out flat in the Cincinnati first round, with court-wise veteran Youzhny taking full advantage of the fragile emotional and physical state of last week’s champion.
The result leaves Tsonga with only one 2011 win in Cincinnati after three appearances at the last major tune-up prior to the US Open, which starts on August 25 this year.
Youzhny broke Tsonga four times in just over an hour of play as the French player committed 21 unforced errors, with his game clearly a notch below his best which was on display at the weekend in Canada.
“I tried to fight every point,” said Youzhny (32), who stands 11-11 at Cincinnati and has played quarter-finals at all four grand slams.
Novak Djokovic pulled his championship tennis back together after last week’s early exit, beating Gilles Simon 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday. The world number one was ambushed at the same stage in Toronto a week ago by eventual champion Tsonga.
Croatian 14th seed Marin Cilic advanced into the second round over Toronto semi-finalist Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4 while British qualifier James Ward surprised Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. — AF.
Online Reporter