Tsonga rallies past Fish to reach quarterfinal at US Open

World No. 11 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France earned a hard-fought 5 sets victory over American No. 1 Mardy Fish with a 6-4 6-7(7) 3-6 6-4 6-2 scoreline and secured his berth in the quarter-final of the 2011 US Open.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made it to his first US Open quarterfinal round on Monday evening after rallying past the World No. 8 Mardy Fish in five gruelling sets with a 6-4 6-7(7) 3-6 6-4 6-2 scoreline in the 2011 US Open. In the quarter-final Tsonga will take on the winner of the match between five time US Open champ Roger Federer and Juan Monaco.

The Frenchman fought his way back into the match after trailing with two sets to one in the match. In the end, Tsonga won the match in 3 hours and 45 minutes of play, as he earned 57% points on his first serve, fired 12 aces and hammered 51 winners. Fish committed 55 unforced errors, which made it difficult for him to make a comeback into the match – during crucial junctures of the match. The American also struggled a lot near the net. Tsonga converted 4 out of 6 break points and won a difficult match, in the end.

With a single break of serve, Tsonga won the first set and made a fine start to the match. But the American, showed his true class in the second-set, when he won it in a stiff tie-breaker with a 7-6(5). Both the players exchanged breaks early on in the third-set and then Fish earned the crucial one in the seventh game of the third-set. The American broke Tsonga again in the ninth game of the third-set and got two sets to one lead in the match.

But just when it looked that Fish would run away with the match, Tsonga made an emphatic comeback, as he broke the American in the ninth game of the fourth-set and earned the equalizer.

No. 8 Fish was trying to make it to the quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows for the second time. But he suffered from an instant right leg problem and consequently his play dipped in the fourth set. The American struggled badly in the fifth set and Tsonga sailed home with a double break in the final set.