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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga underscored his undeniable credentials going into the first Grand Slam of the year winning the 20th edition of the Qatar Open against fellow countryman Gael Monfils. The World No.6 overcame difficult conditions, an indifferent start and even a potentially injurious slide to eventually ease past his compatriot 7-5, 6-3. A slippery court forced an interrupted start that Tsonga struggled to cope with initially and Gael took full advantage racing off to a 5-3 lead. A purple patch however ensued as Tsonga won 4 straight games and a stunning 16 of 19 points to turnaround the set. That turned out to be the pivotal point of the match as Tsonga kept the pedal firmly to the metal from there on to capture his 8^th ATP tour title.

Tsonga was presented the trophy by legend Stefan Edberg and was understandably pleased about his performance suggesting that his confidence was high going into the Australian Open. The Frenchman’s mental toughness was excellent to observe as he kept his composure through the tough moments and refused to let up once he got ahead. Equally complimentary was doing so in the difficult conditions that the match was played in. Gael Monfils through this tournament once again showcased his potential by defeating Nadal but also showed that he is a work in progress with work to be done in the consistency department. The Frenchman collected 150 ATP ranking points and a cool $97,350 for his efforts this week.

Tsonga opened up the Qatar open final in typical style with an ace and dictating with the forehand to setup a pair of game points to put himself of the scoreboard. However, Monfils’ superb movement forced Tsonga to overhit and misfire and a wild set of forehands gave Monfils the early break. Just one point into Monfils service game though there was an interruption in play – Tsonga had been complaining of surface moisture to the officials right from the warm up and Monfils joined him in stating that the lines were especially slippery. The cause of the moisture was deemed to be mist that hovered over the arena and showed little signs of making a hasty exit. With the Australian Open around the corner, the players were understandably concerned and made their way off court till conditions did not mandate their tiptoeing gingerly around the playing surface.

The players eventually returned making a great show of testing that the surface was to their satisfaction before Monfils finally resumed serving at 0-15. Both players began gingerly studiously avoiding the “QATAR” lettering behind the baseline that caused much of the consternation in the first place. They did settle down though and Monfils was the first to make the really aggressive moves as he stepped in to cut off a backhand volley to consolidate his early lead. Tsonga held serve in the next game, but looked disconcerted not serving or hitting with the commitment and power that makes Tsonga the threat he is. The mist still hung around and the trepidation with the conditions was probably the reason for his reluctance to go full throttle. Monfils was much more inclined and seemed more at ease as he kept his nose in front to lead 4-2. Tsonga made a concerted effort to pull his socks up hitting a stunning backhand pass that had the crowd on their feet, forcing Monfils to serve out the set at 5-4. The pressure told – Monfils made a brace of errors and Tsonga attacking the forehand broke Monfils emphatically with a smash. The momentum was now firmly with the 3^rd seed as he hit a delectable half volley and backhand pass to force Monfils to serve to stay in the set at 5-6. With the forehand firing on all cylinders Tsonga upped the ante breaking his opponent to love to capture the first set 7-5.

Tsonga began the second the way he ended the first holding to love, part of an extraordinary run where he won 20 of 23 points and 5 straight games. Monfils broke the sequence by holding to keep things on serve. Just when the ghost of the slippery surface seemed to have gone away it reared up to haunt them again as Tsonga had a horrendous slip when taking off from the Qatar sign raising immediate concerns over Tsonga’s ability to carry on. Luckily for him, the fall did not do any lasting damage and despite an initial stutter he stepped up to hold on to his lead 3-2. As if to underscore the point Tsonga played the near perfect point at 30-30 in the next game striking three increasingly vicious forehand crosscourts, the third being a clean winner to create breakpoint. The irrepressibly high standard from Tsonga had taken its toll on Monfils and LeMonf surrendered the break whacking wide a wild forehand to fall behind 2-4. That break was all that Tsonga needed as the 3^rd seed proceeded to hold on to take the set and the match 6-3 in the second.

Final Score:

Jo-Wiflried Tsonga (FRA) d. Gael Monfils (FRA) 7-5, 6-3

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