ATP Marseille: Rublev overpowers Tsonga. Paire and Verdasco march on
The three-time Open 13 Provence champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to hit the exit door in Marseille after the opening round, losing to Andrey Rublev 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 33 minutes. The Russian scored his third win of the season and he played well on both the first and second serve, losing serve twice but winning enough points on the return to seal the deal and move into the last 16. Jo fired 13 aces although he struggled on the second serve more and more as the match progressed, facing six break points and suffering three breaks to push Andrey towards a much-needed win and get some rest after seven triumphs in Montpellier and Rotterdam.
A backhand return winner gave the Russian a break point at the start of the match but Tsonga saved it with a good serve, gathering the momentum and breaking the youngster in game two with a forehand crosscourt winner. There was nothing Rublev could do on the return in the rest of the set and he got broken at 15 in game eight to hand the opener to Tsonga after 25 minutes. Things changed in set number two, though, with the Russian who controlled the pace of the scoreboard with a solid display behind the initial shot and a break at love he grabbed when Jo fired a forehand long in the initial game.
Rublev held at 15 in game ten for a 6-4 after a service winner and the fate of the match was in his hands now, breaking Jo twice at the start of the final set to open a 4-0 lead. Serving for the win ar 5-2, Andrey blasted three service winners to seal the deal and move into the last 16 where he will face Matteo Berrettini who toppled Jeremy Chardy 7-6, 7-6. The match lasted two hours and ten minutes and Matteo claimed just three points more than his rival, with one break on each side and a thrilling opening set that offered no less than eight set points for Chardy.
The Frenchman had the opportunity to close the set on the return in the tenth game when he had two set points and six times in the tie break, leading 6-3, 7-6, 10-9 and 11-10 before Matteo somehow managed to steal it and win the breaker 14-12 after 70 minutes. They traded breaks in games two and three of the second set and Berrettini repelled another break point at 4-4 to gather the momentum, winning the tie break 7-0 to secure the place in the next round. Peter Gojowczyk needed an hour and 19 minutes to dismiss the struggling Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-4 and make the winning start, saving six out of seven break points and stealing almost half of the return points to earn no less than 17 break points, converting three to master his rival and advance into the last 16.
The 5th seed Fernando Verdasco had to dig deep to oust a qualifier Egor Gerasimov 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and 11 minutes after saving three match points. The Belarusian won two points more overall but not those that mattered the most, squandering his opportunities at 5-4 in the deciding set and collapsing in the following two games to push Fernando over the finish line.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2TY0mrM
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