Paris Masters -Tsonga, Tipsarevic book
O2 places with winsin Paris
Both
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Janko Tipsarevic secured their places at the
season-ending World Tour Finals in London with third-round victories at
the Paris Masters.
TSonga booked his spot at the O2 event with a 7-6(4) 7-6(3) win over Nicolas Almagro, ending the Spaniard's own hopes of reaching next week's tournament in the process.
"It's really important for me to have qualified. With the big four at
the moment, it's not easy to get rewards in tennis, so for me this is
one of my rewards. It feels good to be a part of it," Tsonga told the
ATP Tour website.
"I have some great memories from last year where I played the final
against Roger (Federer). It was huge for me, one of the big moments of
my career."
Tipsarevic downed Argentina's Juan Monaco - another contender for the Finals - in a fiercely contested 6-3 3-6 6-3 win, and with the only other remaining London hopeful Milos Raonic also losing, 6-3 7-6(1) to Sam Querrey,
the Serbian joined Tsonga in completing the line-up for the
end-of-season showpiece. Novak Djokovic, Federer, Andy Murray, David
Ferrer, Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro had already qualified.
"The World Tour Finals last year was one of my best experiences ever
on the tennis court,” said Tipsarevic. "I was always dreaming of playing
the world tour finals and I’m excited to be back there.”
Tsonga goes on to meet fourth seed Ferrer - the highest-ranked
player left in the tournament after the shock demises of Murray and
Djokovic - in the Paris quarters following the Spaniard's drawn-out 6-2
4-6 6-2 win over Stanislas Wawrinka.
Tipsarevic will play world number 69 Jerzy Janowicz in the last eight at Bercy after the Pole.
The world number three's shock defeat means that for the first time
since the 2010 Paris Masters was won by Swede Robin Soderling, a Masters
title will be claimed by a player outside of the Big Four.
Querrey's victory over Raonic set up a clash with Michael Llodra, who continued the string of upsets at the Parisian event with a shock 6-4 6-3 win over Del Potro.
The veteran French serve-volleyer, now the world number 84, rolled
back the years with a fantastic display of guided, angled deliveries and
agile net-play as he broke the Argentine seventh seed once in each set
to move into the quarter-finals in just over an hour.
Llodra, 32, had not won a match on the main tour all season but his
class – and a partisan home crowd – proved too much for Del Potro, who
had won his previous two tournaments.
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