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Roger Federer faces his toughest test at the Australian Open thus far when he plays in-form Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in tonight’s quarter-final. Join us for live scores and commentary from 7:30pm AEDT.
Federer has yet to drop a set en route to the quarter-finals and is well on course to attaining a fifth Australian Open crown and 18th Grand Slam overall.
The Swiss maestro was very impressive in his recent wins over young stars Bernard Tomic and Milos Raonic and will need to keep his high standards up against Tsonga tonight.
Despite a poor head-to-head record against Federer, Tsonga has shown he is capable of beating the former world no. 1 at Grand Slam level, as evidenced by his shock victory over the Swiss star at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.
What made that victory so impressive was the fact Tsonga came back from two sets to love down to defeat Federer on the surface he has dominated for the best part of a decade now.
Although Tsonga certainly has the talent to defeat Federer tonight, the Frenchman is no stranger to losing his way mentally in big matches and will need to be fully switched on if he is a chance of progressing to the Australian Open semi-finals.
Prediction
Tsonga possesses a big game and is well known for his penetrative serves and groundstrokes off the forehand and backhand side.
In full flight, Tsonga’s power and talent is on par with the likes of Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
With this in mind, expect Tsonga to serve and volley consistently tonight in a bid to keep points short against a player who will dominate any extensive rallies they may play.
Look for Tsonga to also punish any short balls with his forehand, which is very capable of finishing off points quickly against any player.
Federer meanwhile will look to keep the ball in play for as long as possible early in the contest in a bid to encourage unforced errors from Tsonga’s racquet.
At 31 years of age, Federer still covers the court better than Tsonga so expect the Swiss star to move the Frenchman from side to side in a bid to unsettle his opponent’s power game.
All things being even, tonight’s contest should be a cracker with both players fairly evenly matched when it comes to power and shot making.
Although Tsonga should provide Federer with a few problems, the Swiss star remains a solid bet to progress to another Australian Open semi-final.
Federer in four tight sets.