By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille both beat left-handed Spanish opponents to advance to the Paris Masters round of 16.
Photo credit: BNP Paribas Masters
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille opened the BNP Paribas Masters standing side-by-side in a doubles victory.
The French pair produced back-to-back singles victories against left-handed Spanish opponents in Paris today.
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Empowered by contesting his first final of the season in Vienna on Sunday, Tsonga jolted an electric serve powering past Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the round of 16.
Three of the four Frenchmen who played today prevailed.
Gilles Simon saved match points fighting past 10th-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6), in two hours, 20 minutes. The defeat ends Bautista Agut's hopes of qualifying for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.
Simon, one of five Frenchmen in the Top 25, will play seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych in the round of 16.
Tsonga was nearly untouchable on serve.
The 11th-seeded Frenchman served 69 percent, slashed 14 aces, won 32 of 34 first-serve points and did not give the Spanish left-hander a sniff at breaking his serve.
The 2008 champion, who remains the last Frenchman to rule Paris, has won 12 of his last 15 matches. Tsonga's only losses in that span came to No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the US Open quarterfinals, to 19th-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut in the Shanghai quarterfinals and to second-ranked Andy Murray in the Vienna final.
Unleashing a crosscourt forehand winner brought Tsonga to match point. Soaring high for a lob, Tsonga spiked a smash to end the match, raising his 2016 record to 36-16.
Kei Nishikori awaits Tsonga in the round of 16. Nishikori has won five of seven prior matches against Tsonga, including a straight-sets win at the Australian Open in January.
Fresh off his run to the Basel final on Sunday, Nishikori joined the 300 club.
Nishikori stopped Serbia's Viktor Troicki, 6-2, 7-5, scoring his 300th career victory.
"I think it's a great number," said Nishikori, who raised his 2016 record to 57-17. "I think this year has been pretty good. I have been winning a lot of matches and playing a lot of tournaments. Every year I feel like I'm getting strong, so I'm happy with performance right now."
Nishikori won 13 of 14 trips to net and broke serve five times dispatching Troicki, who bounced his racquet off the court after surrendering serve for the final time, in 74 minutes.
Pouille avenged a gut-wrenching loss to Feliciano Lopez in Vienna last week rallying for a 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, triumph before the home crowd. Lopez fought off a match point outdueling Pouille, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 in Vienna.
In today's rematch, Pouille stuck a return in the corner to earn triple match point in the 10th game. Lopez saved the first with a slider serve. The pair went nose to nose at net. Pouille could have put a short forehand anywhere but went right back at Lopez who wristed back a reflex volley saving the second match point.
On the third match point, Lopez's luck ran out. The Spanish left-hander tangled a fourth double fault off the tape to end the match.
The 10th-seeded Pouille, who won his first career title on home soil in Metz earlier this season, will play either second-ranked Andy Murray or 46th-ranked Spaniard Fernando Verdasco for a place in the last eight.
Jack Sock continues his mock run for President in a Babolat ad campaign. Fellow Babolat endorser Dominic Thiem was running on fumes against Sock today.
Sock won 10 straight points to open the match sweeping a lethargic Thiem, 6-2, 6-4, in 56 minutes.
The sixth-seeded Thiem is currently in seventh place in the race to the ATP World Tour Finals in London, holding a slight edge over Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych, who can both surpass Thiem by continuing to progress through the draw.
A tight Thiem struggled to land his first serve and find the court at the outset. A deep double fault gave Sock triple break point in the opening game. Thiem tried to jam a serve into the hip, but Sock stepped around and smacked a forehand return winner down the line to break.
Jolting an inside-out forehand winner, Sock had reeled off eight straight points consolidating for 2-0. It took time five minutes of play before Thiem finally got on the board ending the American's run of 10 consecutive points.
The Roland Garros semifinalist can mix heavy topspin with his biting slice backhand when he's in the groove, but couldn't clear the net countering Sock's twisting topspin forehand in the first set. Slapping a running forehand into net, Thiem faced double break point then scattered a double fault donating the second break on another double as Sock seized a 5-2 lead.
Sock slammed an ace down the middle capping a clean 20-minute first set.
The 24th-ranked American was never challenged on serve as Thiem was often reduced to blocking back returns. Sock served 76 percent with eight aces and dropped just three points on his first serve.
Thiem, who pulled off the rare tricky volley tweener while holding for 4-5 in the second set, could not slow Sock, who hammered an inside-out forehand winner to close at love.
David Goffin repelled Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
The 5'11" Belgian hit 10 aces— eight more than the French serve-and-volleyer—sustaining his hopes for a spot in the ATP World Tour Finals.
The eighth-seeded Goffin plays 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic next. Goffin trails Cilic by 400 points in the race for the eighth and final spot in London.
In an all-Croatian clash, the ninth-seeded Cilic did not drop serve defusing Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7), 6-2, in one hour, 33 minutes. Cilic, who beat Nishikori for his second title of the season in Basel on Sunday, has won six straight matches.