Jo Wilfred Tsonga overcame a second-set loss to battle past Rafael Nadal in three sets with 6-4 0-6 7-5 in a spectacular match reaching his first Master 1000 Final since August 2014 when he beat Roger Federer at the Roger’s Cup in Montreal.
Nadal had to save two break points in the first game. Tsonga got the first break point of the match on his fourth opportunity in the fifth game of the opening set with a down-the line backhand pass to take a 3-2 lead. Nadal earned two break-back points in the 8th game but Tsonga saved them. The Frenchman served out the first set with 6-4 after 45 minutes.
Nadal bounced back in the second set where he broke serve three times to win with a bagel. Nadal lost just two matches after winning a set with 6-0 in Buenos Aires in 2005 against Gaston Gaudio and in Doha 2010 against Nikolay Davydenko
In the third game of the third set Tsonga brought up three break point chances at 1-1 but Nadal saved them. The third set went on serve but was marked by spectacular rallies. When the match looked to be decided by the tie-break Nadal committed his first bouble fault and faced a break point. Tsonga got the decisive break in the 11th game of the third set with a topspin forehand to take a 6-5 lead. Tsonga earned the match point with a spectacular dive volley and converted it to seal the win after two hours and 15 minutes.
Tsonga and Nadal met for the first time since 2013 when the Spaniard beat the Frenchman on the Monte-Carlo clay. With hi straight set win over Stan Wawrinka in the semifinal Nadal won his 300th match at Master 1000 level (only Roger Federer won more matches in the series with 326). He has not reached a Master 1000 final on hard-court since Miami 2014
Tsonga has moved up to Number 9 in the Race to London gaining groun on Number 9 Ferrer. Nadal has boosted his chance to qualify for the ATP Finals as he overtook Tomas Berdych for fifth place in the ATP Race to London
Tsonga converted two of his 10 break point chances, hit 40 winners and won 17 of his 25 net points.
Tsonga has reached his fourth Master 1000 Final and his 22nd Final. He has a 2-1 record in his three previous finals. He has extended his post-US Open record to 8-1, including his first title of the year in Metz.
Nadal still leads 8-4 in his twelve head-to-head matches against Tsonga who beat the Mallorcan 14-time Grand Slam champion for the last time in 2011 at the ATP World Finals.
“Alla long the season, I worked hard to be able to play these matches. When it happens, I am really happy to have worked hard because I know I can count on my body. It’s something great for me because it was not always like this. I am a lot stronger than I was maybe few years ago. The season was difficult with a lot of ups and downs. The surface is one of my favourites. I know I am able to play good tennis”, said Tsonga
