ATP Paris: De Minaur, Edmund and Tsonga propel Alexander Zverev to London
After playing in the final in Basel, Alex de Minaur is on a winning path in Paris as well, toppling Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6, 7-6 in grueling two hours and 19 minutes to advance into the third round and crash the Spaniard's dreams about reaching the ATP Finals. Alex won 13 points more overall, fending off four out of six break points and delivering two breaks from four opportunities, standing strong in the crucial moments to find himself over the top. The opening set offered only one break point, de Minaur saved it in the very first game of the clash and went on to win the tie break 7-2 with an ace. They traded breaks in games three and four in set number two before Roberto grabbed another one to move 5-3 up, serving for the set in the next game but spraying a forehand error to bring Alex back into contention ahead of another tie break that the Aussie claimed 7-1 with a volley winner to find himself in the next round.
Heading to Paris with eight straight losses, Kyle Edmund has found the form in the last tournament of the season, beating Diego Schwartzman 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 17 minutes to dismiss the Argentine from the ATP Finals chase. Kyle never faced a break point, delivering one good return game in each set and forging the advantage with 26 winners and 22 unforced errors, dominating in the quickest rallies up to four strokes to book the place in the last 16. Nothing could have separated them until the 12th game of the opening set when Diego hit a double fault to hand the serve and the set to Kyle who grabbed another break in the fourth game of the second set following a forehand mistake from the Argentine that sent him further in front. Serving for the victory at 5-3, Edmund delivered four winners to seal the deal in style, earning more valuable points and setting the encounter against Novak Djokovic on Thursday.
A former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated the 10th seed Matteo Berrettini 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 25 minutes, fending off three out of four break points and earning three breaks to cross the finish line and give the home crowd something to cheer about. The Frenchman hit 22 winners and just eight unforced errors, having the upper hand in both the shortest and mid-range rallies to leave Matteo behind and stay on the title course. Tsonga broke in the second game after a loose forehand from Matteo who pulled the break back in game five to get back on the positive side of the scoreboard. Returning at 5-4, Jo-Wilfried seized the fourth set point with a forehand winner to secure the set, gaining massive boost ahead of set number two where he broke at 15 in the sixth game with a return winner, moving over the top with three winners in game nine for a huge celebration.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/321lror
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