David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga square off tonight for the right to appear in their first ever French Open final. Join us for live scores from 11.30pm AEST.
Two very contrasting players go head to head in a French Open semi-final that promises to be a very entertaining affair.
Tsonga has been in terrific form thus far and starts a strong favourite tonight after dismantling Roger Federer in the quarter-finals in straight sets.
The Frenchman’s booming first serve coupled with his strong forehand and backhand allowed him to dominate the Swiss maestro en route to a very impressive victory.
Tsonga’s match-up against Ferrer however should pose a tougher challenge, given that Ferrer, like his compatriot Nadal, are wonderful players on clay.
Ferrer has once again flown under the radar at Roland Garros and yet again finds himself in a grand slam semi-final after making the last four at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Seemingly defying his age, Ferrer has never enjoyed a better period in his career and will be primed for a big performance against Tsonga tonight.
Prediction
While not the biggest hitter of the ball, Ferrer’s court coverage is bested only by superstars Nadal, Djokovic and Murray.
When playing against highly offensive players, Ferrer seems to always find a way to frustrate the biggest hitters on the tour with his speed around the court.
When in a neutral rally, Ferrer loves to dictate points by using his forehand to move big men like Tsonga around the court.
With this in mind, if Tsonga finds himself chasing balls down often tonight, then Ferrer will win plain and simple.
The Spaniard’s fitness really is second only to the aforementioned trio above and will outlast Tsonga if this match turns into an endurance contest.
For Tsonga to beat Ferrer, the Frenchman has to back himself and go for his shots and be prepared to hit a lot more balls than he did against Federer.
If Tsonga can avoid getting frustrated by Ferrer’s wonderful court coverage and play good percentage tennis, than the Frenchman has the firepower to go on and make his maiden French Open final.
On the back of a strong Parisian home crowd, Tsonga is enjoying a rich vein of form and should be favoured to use his firepower to strong effect en route to a tough victory.
Tsonga in four sets.
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