By Abigail Hinto
BEIJING, China – More than a routine win, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga cruised to the semifinals of the China Open following his defeat of Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-2. Not even a forced day-off when Nikolay Davydenko, his third round opponent pulled out before their match disrupted Tsonga’s rhythm. All he needed in the first set was one breakpoint which he dutifully converted when Youzhny pushed his backhand long. Just a little wobble in the 2nd set for a bit of excitement as Tsonga, already up a break faced two breakpoints in the 6th game. But both were dutifully saved with his big serve. Then it was all Tsonga on his way to the semifinals where he awaits the winner of the Querrey-Lopez match.
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: I think it was a good thing because I played three sets the day before, and, you know, for me it’s good to have some rest, anyway. But, you know, sometimes it’s good; sometimes it’s bad. It’s good only when you win after that.
Q. Lotus Court seems like an interesting place to play, especially with the sides that are kind of cut out. It lets light in at weird angles and puts some weird shadows on the court and sounds can come in. Do you think that it’s a good court to play on as a competitor?
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: As a competitor, it’s a bit tough, yeah, because there is a lot of light and the stadium is open, and sometimes the ball go from the dark to the light and it’s tough to see it.
But, you know, to play tennis, you know, you have to get used to everything. This is one of the things.
Q. It seemed like you excelled in all aspects of your game today. Is there anything you personally are disappointed with?
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I’m a bit disappointed of my game on my baseline, you know, I didn’t play really good tennis. Today it was not brilliant but was enough solid to win it today.
I served well, and, yeah, that’s it.
Abigail Hinto is in Beijing this week covering the China Open for Tennis Panorama News. Follow her updates on twitter @TennisNewsTPN.
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