Paris (AFP)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 35th in the world, clinched his ticket for the second round of the Bercy Masters 1000 on Monday, eliminating Andrey Rublev (22) in three sets, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Initially led, the 34-year-old Manceau, who scored the winning strokes (47) and gross faults (32), took advantage of the feverish Russian, who showed many signs of annoyance, to come impose after more than 2h20 of an animated fight.
"It's clear that I'm happy to have won, everything was not perfect, but the most important thing is victory," said Tsonga after the match.
A little inside in the first set, the French then made the choice to change strategy to return the game. "In the second set, I got close to the line, even on his first (ball) to try to take him out of time, and then be especially aggressive on his seconds (balls) to put a lot of pressure," he said. he explained.
"On the last two sets, I played good tennis.It will have to continue to hope to continue the adventure" in the tournament, analyzed the French.
In the second round, Tsonga will face the Italian Matteo Berrettini (23), semi-finalist in Vienna last week and who has just entered the world top 10 (9th).
© 2019 AFP