- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is certainly the favourite to advance out of the second round at the 2016 Australian Open but it won’t be all smooth when he takes on Australian wildcard entry Omar Jasika.. Join The Roar for live scores of this match from 7pm (AEDT).
Tsonga, so often known for his outrageous play and shot making, which both can save a large number of points and lose a large number of points worked his way into the ninth seed for the Open. Against an inexperienced player like Jasika, his style of play could really turn the match ugly, and add pressure to Jasika.
In the lead-up to the Australian Open, Tsonga only played one other tournament which was in Auckland. Deciding to skip all matches in Australia was an interesting decision, and losing the semi-final to Roberto Bautista Agut would leave him questioning if it was really the right one.
He didn’t show any signs of being out of form in the first round though, as he recorded a hard earned four sets victory over crowd favourite Marcos Baghdatis. It would be fair to say Tsonga’s form isn’t exactly where he wants it to be as the Australian Open picks up, and he will be hoping for a dominant display against the young Aussie.
Jasika, on the other hand, was given a wild card into the tournament and certainly not expected to win as he did in the first round, causing an upset in four sets over Illya Marchenko.
It was a very impressive display by Jasika and after dropping the second set, he bounced back strongly in the third taking it 6-0, before winning the final set comfortably. This, more than anything else, shows the temperament of Jasika, despite his inexperience. Many players, would have lost their way after losing a second set like that in their first grand slam.
Jasika though has been in appalling form in the lead-up to the Australian Open losing seven matches in a row stretching back to November.
The pair has never matched up before this meeting, and you would have to think that is advantage Jasika due to the information that would be available to Tsonga.
Prediction: The inexperience of Jasika is going to hamper him here. While it was a strong performance in the first round, someone with the talent of Tsonga should win this one pretty easily.
Tsonga in four sets.
Follow live scores of this second round match at the 2016 Australian Open right here on The Roar from 7pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to leave a comment if you’re following along with the action.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde